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This review of performance assessment and special education considers forces influencing assessment changes, performance-based assessment as an alternative to traditional assessment, current use of performance assessment, a critique of performance assessment, the future of performance assessment, and the role of curriculum and teachers. An action agenda for special educators is proposed. (DB)

The Test of Written Language-2, for use with students ages 7-17, identifies low achievement, determines strengths and weaknesses, and documents progress. The test assesses three language components (conventional, linguistic, and conceptual) using two formats (contrived and spontaneous.) This paper describes the test's administration, scoring, summation of data, standardization, reliability, and validity. (JDD)

This study compared the effectiveness of a diagrammatic and a keyword method of teaching mathematics problem solving to 70 learning-disabled junior high school students. Results indicated no significant difference between problem-solving performance by students taught with different methods. Potential factors explaining inconsistencies between this and previous investigations are discussed. (Author/PB)

Modified Assessment Techniques (MATs) are nonstandard diagnostic activities used with standardized tests and other assessment tools to gather information unavailable through standardized methods. Suggestions are offered for implementing MATs in several cognitive areas by modifying modality, language, complexity, spacial, and temporal elements and noting changes in results. (PB)

A framework is presented for implementing standardized achievement testing. Fundamental concepts and formats of the tests are reviewed, and useful references are listed. Standardized tests are considered and categorized in terms of administration format, functions, validity, and type (cognitive versus noncognitive). Thirteen basic recommendations for effective implementation are offered. (PB)

Thirty learning-disabled and 30 nonhandicapped intermediate grade children were assessed on memory performance for stimulus words, which were presented with congruent and noncongruent rhyming words and semantically congruent and noncongruent sentence frames. Both groups performed significantly better on words encoded using deep level congruent semantic processing and cued with congruent semantic retrieval cues. (Author/JDD)

The usefulness of the picture story language test (PSLT) as a standardized assessment procedure that would discriminate between 124 nonlearning-disabled and 85 learning-disabled (LD) elementary school students was studied. It was concluded that the PSLT does not allow for an accurate and complete diagnostic appraisal. (Author/PHR)

Across the globe, the payments mix is changing. Debit cards are rapidly displacing the once ubiquitous cheque, and the use of cash -- the most universally accepted and trusted form of payment -- is losing ground to credit cards, mobile payments and other emerging trends. As financial institutions prepare for the inevitability of electronic payments and the continued erosion of traditional payment methods, they may be tempted to overlook their cash processing operations in favour of these more resource-intensive and demanding trends. While some experts have already begun to eulogise cash, however, recent data show that it remains popular among both consumers and merchants. Although usage trends vary by region and country, and even by demographics, an important reality has emerged: Cash is not going away in the near future and may be increasing in use in some segments of the economy. Financial institutions cannot discount the importance of cash any more than they can disregard other payment mechanisms. In fact, cash may represent as significant an opportunity as these emerging payment trends , and it may be the traditional view of cash -- rather than the payment mechanism itself -- that is the dinosaur. This paper takes the question of cash in a new direction. Rather than simply looking at cash solely as a cost, it explores ideas, both real and conceptual, for leveraging cash as a means to drive revenue growth, expand brand loyalty and leverage the changing payment mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]