Educational assessment is important. But in the twenty-first century it is easy to feel that schooling and other phases of education are shaped entirely by certain assessments, and that assessment is only about exam results. The idea that test grades can accurately describe the aims and outcomes of education is unfair and reductive. Yet it is a…

This is the foundational book for the new series, Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability. The book canvasses research, practice and policy perspectives in teacher education across diverse geographic, social and political contexts. It explores the lifespan of teacher development from initial preparation through to graduate…

"The Complete Learning Disabilities Resource Guide" (formerly "The Complete Learning Disabilities Directory") has been a comprehensive and sought-after resource for professionals, families and individuals with learning disabilities since 1992. This twenty-first edition is the most comprehensive and current source of resources…

This book addresses the politically charged issue of citizenship and English language learning among adult migrants in the UK. Whilst citizenship learning is inherent in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), the book argues that top-down approaches and externally-designed curricula are not a productive or useful approach. Meaningful…

This handbook brings together contributors from the United States, Australasia and Europe who use theoretical insights and empirical data to examine current practices as well as possible future directions of postgraduate education. A full range of postgraduate study options are explored, including PhD and professional doctorates, masters awards,…

"Pragmatics & Language Learning. Volume 13" examines the organization of second language and multilingual speakers' talk and pragmatic knowledge across a range of naturalistic and experimental activities. Based on data collected among ESL and EFL learners from a variety of backgrounds, the contributions explore the nexus of pragmatic…

Developing the ability to speak in a foreign language is an arduous task. This is because it involves the mastery of different language subsystems, simultaneous focus on comprehension and production, and the impact of a range of social factors. This challenge is further compounded in situations in which learners have limited access to the target…

This volume examines the assessment of higher order thinking skills from the perspectives of applied cognitive psychology and measurement theory. The volume considers a variety of higher order thinking skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, argumentation, decision making, creativity, metacognition, and self-regulation. Fourteen…

This comprehensive "Handbook" focuses on the most used polytomous item response theory (IRT) models. These models help us understand the interaction between examinees and test questions where the questions have various response categories. The book reviews all of the major models and includes discussions about how and where the models…

The authors center their presentation of material around a conceptual understanding of psychometric issues, such as validity and reliability, and on purpose rather than procedure, the "why" rather than the "how to." Their goal is to introduce psychometric principles at a level that is deeper and more focused than found in introductory…

The book relates rational curriculum planning to the field of geography. Intended as an aid to geography teachers and teachers in training as they reconstruct geography syllabi, the book emphasizes the need to evaluate what goes into as well as what comes out of the geography curriculum. Section I identifies aims and objectives of geographic…

A self-instructional book covers ten steps toward development of a behavior observation system. Units describe how to interpret graphs, convert information from table to graph form, put collected data into a table, compute the reliability of observational data, make observations with four recording methods, construct an observational system,…

Following the style of the 1958 original, this third edition of the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability is both a standardized attainment test and a diagnostic test for readers of all ages and thus can be used to assess reading progress objectively as well as to obtain structured diagnostic observations of an individual's reading behavior. It…

This document aims to support graduate students who are in the process of preparing graduate theses or dissertations, and is organized according to the planning, research, and writing phases. The function of theses and dissertations is to provide students with experience in conducting and presenting research and to add to the body of knowledge in…

This book is designed to help K-12 teachers and administrators understand the nature of standardized tests and, in particular, the scores that result from them. This useful manual helps teachers develop the skills necessary to incorporate these test scores into various types of instructional decision making--a process known as "data-driven…