This guide describes a five-step collaborative process that educators can use with other educators, researchers, and content experts to write or adapt questions and develop surveys for education contexts. This process allows educators to leverage the expertise of individuals within and outside of their organization to ensure a high-quality survey…

Deciding whether and how to use assessments to evaluate students' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills requires the development and critical appraisal of an assessment plan. At the state, district, and school levels, education leaders and staff can benefit from reviewing best practices and using a structured format to arrive…

Education in the 21st century is awakening to a call for students who are not only proficient with academic content but who also have developed the social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are necessary for success in college and careers. This brief refers to that combination of knowledge, attitudes, and skills as SE…

The implementation of effective instructional materials, such as a core reading program, by a qualified teacher is an important part of improving students' reading achievement. But selecting those instructional materials can be time-consuming. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast created this rubric for evaluating reading/language arts…

Assessing individuals' social and emotional (SE) knowledge, attitudes, and skills is a complex task. It requires careful consideration of the assessment purpose, rigor, practicality, burden, and ethics. Once you have considered these factors and have determined that you are, in fact, "Ready to Assess," you are ready to act and choose an…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

Many art museum programs aim to facilitate the development of young people's critical-thinking skills, but most are unclear in their definitions of critical thinking and their notions of how it is best facilitated. This article shares a diagnostic tool for identifying instances of critical thinking in art museum programs. Specifically, the authors…

A test on child development and parenting knowledge (with accompanying cassette) was developed and field tested with mildly mentally handicapped secondary students. (CL)

Chemical engineering students were required to create an open-book final examination and to include questions reflecting analytical, synthetic (creative), and evaluative skills. Rationale for the assignment, sample student responses, and how the technique might be profitably adapted to any course on any subject are discussed. (JN)

Procedures for generating multiple-choice exams in psychology using the Apple IIe computer and the Applewriter II text editing software are described. The model is simple to use and provides flexibility in sequencing the choice of items from an instructor generated pool. (Author/RM)

This overview of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests is designed to help schools implement the Massachusetts"Curriculum Frameworks." For this fourth administration of the MCAS tests in 2001, the design of the tests remains essentially the same, but there are some changes highlighted in this overview. The first…

Describes a practical approach that teachers can use to check for test-item validity in test construction. The Kuder-Richardson Reliability Formula is used. Detailed instructions describe the procedure for evaluating items for difficulty and using statistical methods to determine test validity. (AM)

Describes a method for increasing efficiency of examination production which uses file cards to store and organize test items. The process of reproducing tests directly from master copies made with file cards is discussed. (AM)

At the beginning of the undergraduate psychology course, students are informed that a comprehensive makeup final will be required of any student who misses any regularly scheduled exam for any reason. The more exams a student misses, the more heavily the comprehensive makeup is weighted. (RM)

Explains how spreadsheet software can be used in the design and grading of academic tests and in assigning grades. Macro programs and menu-driven software are highlighted and an example using IBM PCs and Lotus 1-2-3 software is given. (Author/LRW)