With constantly changing needs in a global economy, more flexibility in educational accountability for states and districts, and a focus on high standards for all students, state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) are increasingly defining what skills, competencies, and knowledge graduates should have by developing a…

Asking college students how much they have learned or grown is a common assessment practice in student affairs and elsewhere. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that these self-reported gains do a very poor job of measuring actual student learning and growth. This paper provides an overview of the psychological process of how students likely…

This brochure is intended to be a useful tool for assessing students' development along a continuum of oral language growth as well as for providing information about the competencies that students are expected to learn in second-fifth grades. On the continuum in the brochure, descriptors list specific behaviors that detail students' development…

This brochure is intended to be a useful tool for assessing students' development along a continuum of oral language growth as well as for providing information about the competencies that students are expected to learn in preschool and first grade. On the continuum in the brochure, descriptors list specific behaviors that detail students'…

Describes portfolio assessment, recommending it as a means of dynamic and ongoing student evaluation. For students, portfolios stimulate thinking and promote independence. For teachers, they provide a multidimensional view of each child's development. The article explains how to get started, customize portfolio contents, collect notes, and manage…

This paper reports the construction of a teacher rating instrument designed to monitor the social and emotional development of school age children and young people (4-17 years). The instrument was developed by reviewing previously implemented checklists to build an extensive list of behavioural and emotional criteria and through the use of focus…

What students learn in general education can improve their functioning as citizens and such learning can be objectively measured. Ten conclusions by the College Outcome Measures Project, working to find and develop solutions to problems in assessing general civic competence, are provided. (Author/MLW)

This book presents a responsive approach to assessment which recognizes and describes students' development, learning and achievement in English. It describes a model for English teaching built on the kinds of contexts, activities, and experiences which most effectively promote the learning of language, learning through language, and learning…

This pamphlet describes the process of beginning to use portfolios in an elementary teacher training program. It defines the concept of portfolios and provides a rationale for their use in teacher education programs. Portfolios are suggested for use in preservice teacher education in three ways: to evaluate the preservice teacher education…

Describes a method for making standardized test results more useful for teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents by providing information on the test content actually mastered by the student and on the student's individual development over time, as well as providing traditional numerical and norm-referenced scores. (PGD)

Constructive-developmental theory, with its emphasis on epistemology and cognitive complexity, explicitly links learning and developmental growth. One model, which identifies five shifts in perception throughout the life span, describes some of higher education's values and objectives. The theory offers a promising direction for student evaluation…

Offers a synthesis of the arguments for and against value-added testing (i.e., assessing how much students learn or improve or grow in school or college). Looks at alternative methods of measuring the value added in terms of the relationship between entry and exit skills. (DMM)

The "Armstrong Diagnostic and Prescriptive Technique" of curriculum modification involves modifying the curriculum, first, to accommodate the shared learning characteristics of gifted students and, second, to accommodate individual differences. Use of the technique and checklist are illustrated by a case study. (DB)

The author discusses a career decision-making program which she designed and implemented using a pyramidal model of exploration, crystallization, choice, and classification. Her article outlines the value of rigorous evaluation techniques applied by the local practitioner. (MF)

This model for assessing the readiness for college of high school students with learning disabilities offers a life-span developmental perspective. It identifies life-event stressors, mediating variables (abilities and attitudes), the social-psychological adaptation process, and adaptive/maladaptive outcomes. (DB)