When teachers and students share the responsibility for learning, students become active agents in their own learning who respond to feedback, set learning goals, track their progress, and adapt their own learning strategies when needed. Formative assessment provides a clear path forward to this kind of teaching and learning experience, and site…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

Focusing on just three things--evidence of student learning, feedback on teacher and principal decisions, and depth of implementation--renowned author and thinker Douglas B. Reeves provides you with a blueprint for how to ensure professional development improves student learning. Find out: (1) Which ineffective professional development practices…

The second in a series of five, module 2 provides everything one will need to run sharply focused, practical staff development training sessions for adult and Post-16 literacy, language and numeracy teachers. Each module addresses aspects of teaching and learning commonly identified as areas in need of improvement and can be used individually or…

Teacher Growth and Assessment (TGA) is a comprehensive teacher evaluation system that includes structures for both accountability and professional growth, taking teacher evaluation to a new level. TGA provides the opportunity to use teacher evaluation data to plan professional development, involve teachers in self-assessment, and structure…

Although the initial focus of the reform movement was on teachers, considerable attention has been devoted to administrators--especially principals--since it has been recognized that the quality of a principal's leadership has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the educational programs in our schools. The purpose of this guide is to…

The complete process of initiating and monitoring an evaluation program is presented, noting that the ability to assess the performance of administrators and implement programs to enhance their skills and abilities is essential to the effective management of higher learning institutions. Such field tested resources as evaluation forms, performance…

Discussed is a type of evaluation unlike traditional methods in that it gives students an opportunity to exercise an influence on their own situation. Planning, procedures, and recordings are described. (CW)

This program, supported by the Center for Communication and Educational Technology at the University of Alabama, incorporates the perspectives of biology, earth/space science, chemistry, and physics into an innovative science curriculum for the middle grades. Students are engaged for 20 minutes 3 times a week by an on-air instructor who is doing…

The evaluation of teacher inservice education programs is discussed. Evaluation of an inservice program is aimed at answering questions about the program's effectiveness and providing a description of the impact the experience has on the participants. Curriculum evaluation should be concerned with four kinds of decisions: (1) planning; (2)…