Strings teaching and learning has tended to emphasize performance rather than the quality of experience for the children. School instruction has become rigid and focused on technical accuracy. Alternative teaching strategies must be pursued in order to provide a challenging yet enjoyable experience of playing and learning the bowed string…

Fueled by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its focus on standardized testing, the U.S. assessment system has been driven by capitalism rather than educational benefit. Annually, the testing industry, which four companies monopolize, is valued at between $400 and $700 million. The testing industry drives Americans to spend $13.1 billion each…

In today's educational world, it is crucial for language teachers to continuously evolve in order to best serve language learners. Further study on the best practices and challenges in the language classroom is crucial to ensure instructors continue to grow as educators. The "Handbook of Research on Language Teacher Identity" addresses…

This annotated bibliography surveys key resources and research related specifically to language learning and literacy. It focuses on resources that will be valuable to teaching professionals and researchers who specialize in the areas of foreign and second language teaching, language arts and first and second language literacy. Significant…

What really works in alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards? Every state is working to know the answer--both to comply with federal requirements for evaluating students with severe cognitive disabilities, and to ensure that all students reach their full potential. This comprehensive book is the first to gather today's best…

This synthesis report provides a historical look back over the past 15 years of alternate assessment, from the early 1990s through the mid 2000s, as reported by state directors of special education on the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) state surveys, and augmented by other research and policy reports published by NCEO and related…

This project was developed and implemented to help increase knowledge of singing performance by targeted fourth grade students as well as to increase their self assessment abilities. The project also was designed to improve parent/guardian understanding of singing performance. The study was conducted in a southwestern classroom of 26 students. The…

This document describes a database of information for those who want to learn more about current efforts to redesign assessment to match changing goals for students and instruction. The database contains descriptive information on alternative assessments in science and mathematics that cover all grade levels, levels of assessment (classroom to…

This paper uses the concepts of decision reliability and validity to analyze three alternative psychoeducational assessment strategies: multiple gating, template matching, and time-series methods. It argues that relatively little knowledge is gained through analysis of individual scales and assessment technologies without considering the…

This paper deals with a required methods course, based on the national curriculum of science and technology for junior high schools. The course participants are pre-service teachers who study towards a B.Sc. degree in education in science and technology parallel to their studies in one of the faculties of sciences or engineering. Working in small…

Reviews the increased attention to and skepticism about student assessment and standardized testing in the United States. Maintains that alternative assessment techniques such as the use of portfolios and direct assessment provide a more comprehensive evaluation of student achievement. Includes eight criteria for determining validity of…

In Japan, assessment in classroom teaching cannot be considered apart from classroom lessons. This paper describes typical mathematics classroom situations and some of the developments in classroom assessment underway in Japan. The first section of the paper discusses classroom teaching, including whole-class instruction, discussion, objectives,…

This paper gives a description of a videotape used with inservice teachers as a model for demonstrating the clinical interviewing technique. It describes what is seen on the tape, as well as the child's and interviewer's comments and reactions. It also describes the plan and purpose of the interviewer's questions and outlines the process that…

Two approaches to testing student achievement are discussed: (1) traditional standardized tests; and (2) testing achievement on an instructional unit. Content validity is a major problem with standardized achievement tests. Even though test publishers typically consider a number of curriculum guides and textbooks in producing a test which is…

This report documents efforts to develop instruments for data-gathering and to train field staff in the use of the instruments, as part of a feasibility study designed to validate a conceptual framework that describes the elements of California's special education prereferral and alternative assessment procedures for ethno-linguistically diverse…