The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides a framework in which over 80 countries collaborate to build advanced global metrics to assess the knowledge, skills and character attributes of the students. The design of assessments poses major conceptual and technical challenges, as successful learning. Beyond a sound…

School librarians and other specialists should take note of the new wave of computer-based assessments required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), testing that is only now beginning to get off the ground. The new testing necessitates that districts possess the right hardware, install the requisite software, and, in some cases, create…

Humanoid robots are gradually becoming part of everyday life as well as education. Virtual agents have demonstrated their benefits for years, and experts expect similar positive effects from the use of humanoid robots in education. Project H.E.A.R.T. (Humanoid Emotional Assistant Robots in Teaching), from Philipps-University Marburg, has developed…

This article sets the stage for the description of a variety of approaches to test reviewing worldwide. It describes the importance of test reviewing as a protection of the public and of society and also the benefits of this activity for test users, who must choose measures to use in particular situations with particular clients at a particular…

The test review process used by the Buros Center for Testing is described as a series of 11 steps: (1) identifying tests to be reviewed, (2) obtaining tests and preparing test descriptions, (3) determining whether tests meet review criteria, (4) identifying appropriate reviewers, (5) selecting reviewers, (6) sending instructions and materials to…

Students need to have a basic understanding of research methods before obtaining a communication degree in order to become an intelligent consumer of research--someone who is able to read, understand, explain, and critically evaluate communication and other research reported in scholarly journals as well as in the popular press. These skills are…

This paper describes the theoretical basis and development of the iSELF: an Internet-tool for Self-Evaluation and Learner Feedback to stimulate self-directed learning in ubiquitous learning environments. In ubiquitous learning, learners follow their own trails of interest, scaffolded by coaches, peers and tools for thinking and learning.…

The purpose of this document is to describe the methods RAND used to analyze achievement for 23 personalized learning (PL) schools for the 2012-13 through 2013-14 academic years. This work was performed at the request of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), as part of a multi-year evaluation contract. The 23 schools were selected from a…

Students need practice in proposing hypotheses, developing experiments that will test these hypotheses, and generating data that they will analyze to support or refute them. I describe a guided-inquiry activity based on the "tongue map" concept, appropriate for middle school and high school students.

Talent Development Centers are just one of many tools every family, teacher, and gifted advocate should have in their tool box. To understand the importance of Talent Development Centers, it is essential to also understand the Academic Talent Search Program. Talent Search participants who obtain scores comparable to college-bound high school…

This article describes a soil-testing activity that enables students to learn some interesting and useful things about how soil behaves under varied conditions. It offers a great way to give them a practical pre-engineering experience and will show them how engineers think about construction and how local soils influence building design. The…

In 2006, a (new) German standard for test reviewing was passed (Testkuratorium, 2006). There was already a European standard in place (European Federation of Psychologists' Associations, 2008). This article presents the German standard for test reviewing and explains how the German test review system was derived from demands in the German standard…

In recent years, education systems around the world have been keeping a keen eye on rankings of student achievement as measured by internationally benchmarked tests. This has led to considerable attention being paid to teasing out success factors that may account for countries that have emerged top of the ranks or those that have shown the most…

This article describes the development and implementation of an open-access organic chemistry question bank for online tutorials and assessments at University College Cork and Dublin Institute of Technology. SOCOT (structure-based organic chemistry online tutorials) may be used to supplement traditional small-group tutorials, thereby allowing…

Although there is an increasing number of online tests in the world, little research is currently known in Spain today. Assessment has become an integral part of education and the implications of the various uses of language testing go beyond the educational settings (Douglas, 2010; Fulcher, 2010). This study describes the PAULEX project. This…