In this second volume of the successful "Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education," editors Souza and Rose share examples of assessment practice from over fifteen distinct and diverse higher education institutions, including international contributions. Building upon the work of the first volume, the case studies in this book reflect…

"Making Assessment Work: Ten Practitioner Beliefs" was developed by the National Practitioner Advisory Group on Using Data to Inspire SEL Practice (NPAG), a group of social and emotional learning (SEL) practice leaders convened to provide insights on SEL. Educators, program leaders, and policymakers recognize the value of holistically…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's Implementation Study, which uses interview and survey…

This paper reviews current proposals concerning the definition of dyslexia and contrasts it with reading comprehension impairment. We then discuss methods for early identification and review evidence that teacher assessments and ratings may be valid screening tools. Finally, we argue that interventions should be theoretically motivated and…

Measures of teacher concerns such as the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, a conceptualization of the way concerns of individual teachers change as they become familiar with and involved in new programs, can be helpful in inservice training for teachers of gifted students. Implications for inservice include the conclusion that change is a personal…

Teachers' attitudes and nonverbal messages about standardized testing can affect students' test scores. This article presents a four-question test to help teachers determine their attitudes toward standardized testing, then offers suggestions on how to get rid of excess baggage before approaching the tests and explains the importance of…

Performance legitimacy exists when leadership traits valued by subordinates are observed in leaders. This article discusses six facets of leadership that can be measured to determine this legitimacy and tells how a performance legitimacy profile can test the congruence between teachers' and an administrator's evaluations of the administrator's…

This document is the first in a series of annual, faculty-designed supplements to Nassau Community College's (NCC's) (New York) manual, "Concepts & Procedures for Academic Assessment." The supplements are intended to provide faculty a forum through which they can communicate assessment designs and the impacts of those designs on…

A faculty committee was commissioned at Ohio State University's College of Social Work to study that College's grading practices. In fulfilling this charge a survey of the faculty was conducted and the results presented along with a review of useful literature on grading and recommendations for change. The survey of faculty used a questionnaire…

The Primary Trait System (PTS) of scoring was devised by the National Assessment of Educational Progress to score large numbers of natural writing samples. Essentially, PTS permits evaluation of writing in an objective way, but one that does not rely on scoring surface features such as mechanics, grammar, or spelling. While the assessment value of…

Shares successful strategies for encouraging future English teachers to think deeply and seriously--but not rigidly--about grading. (RL)

This digest explains why teacher comments on report cards are important, offers suggestions on how to construct effective comments, points out words or phrases to be cautious about using, and indicate sources of information for report card comments. Teacher comments are important in that they often convey information that is not completely…

This study addressed the question of whether teachers' judgments differ according to the frequency of data collection on student performance and the type of trend. The study also investigated whether teachers' judgments, based on different types of graphs (ascending, descending, flat, or variable), vary with the frequency of data collection. A set…

A 1980 study of special education teachers' reports on the availability and usefulness of several types of assessment information for emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered students was replicated and results compared. Overall progress was found, with notable increases in availability for types that teachers consider educationally relevant,…

The author suggests 15 ways in which teachers may improve student attitudes toward writing and teacher attitudes toward the evaluation of student writing. (KC)