Creating summative assessments that accurately test students' breadth of knowledge and critical thinking can be a difficult task. Instructors often rely upon overly complex quick response questions or constructed response exams. However, students often have negative perceptions of the latter. The authors implemented an approach for administering…

After passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, states assumed greater responsibility for designing their own accountability and assessment systems. ESSA requires states to measure "higher order thinking skills and understanding" and encourages the use of open-ended performance assessments, which are essential for…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opened up new possibilities for how student and school success are defined and supported in American public education. States have greater responsibility for designing and building their assessment and accountability systems. These new opportunities to develop performance assessments are critically important…

This investigation focused on a group of 17 faculty drawn from disciplines in the humanities social sciences and natural sciences. Using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and qualitative coding strategies, this study examined how faculty conceptualized the term critical thinking (CT), and how they assessed for it in general education…

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

The dilemma articulated in small group and en masse discussions produced the theme, "Through a Glass, Darkly," for the 1971-1972 edition of "Classroom Practices." This document is a collection of essays espousing various methods of teaching English. One predominant concern of all English teachers is the issue of priorities in education. English…

The role of postsecondary accreditation and its relation to student consumer protection are discussed in this monograph. The importance of this concept is examined in light of increased marketing efforts on the part of higher education institutions. It is emphasized that students are consumers and their rights should be protected. Possible areas…