Scientific explanations, which include a claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER), are frequently used to measure students' deep conceptual understandings of science. In this study, we developed an automated scoring approach for the CER that students constructed as a part of virtual inquiry (e.g., formulating questions, analyzing data, and warranting…

This paper describes the process by which a television test was developed to measure elementary student competencies in science processes. The test was developed as an evaluative tool, related to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Science for the Seventies project of televised science modules designed to supplement classroom science…

The purpose of this study was to discover the efficacy of the Science, Mathematics, and Related Technologies Quality Measurement (SMARTQM) as a measure of total school quality and to determine the usefulness of this instrument in predicting school performance through self-reported student achievement. SMARTQM is an integrated data collection and…

As some reform-minded teachers have discovered, classroom assessment can serve as a vital tool for meeting the challenges associated with project science activity. In essence, it functions as an infrastructure that both students and teachers rely on as a mediational tool for classroom activity and communications. The research described in this…

How psychologists and theologians define the peak/spiritual experience and how this aspect of human behavior can be approached in the classroom are examined. Benjamin Bloom interviewed college students who had undergone peak experiences in the classroom. The students described a sense of total involvement, a loss of a sense of time and place, and…

Investigated the effects of group ability composition on group processes and outcomes in science performance assessments. Findings from 21 eighth-grade science classes (445 students) show that group ability composition has a great impact on performance and that heterogeneous groups provide more of a benefit for below-average students than a…

In 1991, the New Jersey Board of Higher Education's College Outcomes Evaluation Program (COEP) was canceled due to lack of state funding. Despite the cancellation, 17 community colleges formed the New Jersey County College Project on General Education to develop goals, objectives, and assessment criteria for general education. The Project grounds…

This paper reports results of an exploratory study designed to identify some of the issues most critical for understanding how naturalistic inqiry is done and why researchers behave as they do. Preliminary results are discussed of an inquiry into ten case studies, The Case Studies in Science Education (CSSE), funded as one project by the National…

The effects of classroom assessment environment (CAE) variables on yearly achievement in mathematics and science in grades 7 through 12 were studied through the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), using cohorts of approximately 3,000 students each in the 7th and 10th grades who were followed for 4 years. While the LSAY did not include all…

Evaluation findings are presented from a 2-year project to design and field test an embedded assessment system in concert with the development of a middle school science course, "Issues, Evidence, and You," (IEY), by the Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) at the Lawrence Hall of Science. IEY is a four-part course…

This paper describes the task analysis of performance-based science tasks that were designed for the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment, now postponed until 1996, and field tested in 1993. A brief description of the science performance tasks is followed by a description of the task analyses performed and a…

Practicality is the "Achilles heel" of alternative assessment in middle school science. This 5-year study of an "early adopter" school explores factors that enable alternate assessment to thrive in spite of practical problems. Interviews with five seventh-grade life science teachers and five eighth-grade physical science teachers who initiated and…

An overview is provided of the "Authentic Assessment for Multiple Users" project funded by the National Science Foundation to determine whether portfolio assessment can be structured to permit meaningful aggregation for multiple hierarchical users. The research focus was in the context of science and mathematics instruction in grades…

With increasing attention being given to the importance of microcomputers in the schools, there is concern about how new teachers can best be prepared to use the new technology effectively. This paper presents a perspective on teacher training based on three categories in which computers may be used in the classroom: to provide unique learning…

This paper reports on the progress through February 1975 of the Human Sciences Implementation Project of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS). The project's objectives are to disseminate information about the BSCS Human Science Program (HSP) curriculum and to train the staffs of regional centers in the philosophy, rationale, and…