Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote of four distinct causes at play in the world we know. Those causes, the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause, were meant to refer to ontological and, by extension, epistemological concerns, and were powerful enough to be seized upon and used in some form by those of very…

In the context of significant reforms to the curriculum for New Zealand schools, this article presents an early line of findings from an ongoing ethnographic multi-case study investigating New Zealand primary school teachers' enactment of informal formative assessment. Data were gathered through observations, interviews, and document collection in…

Quality curriculum design and assessment processes are essential for promoting student competency development and demonstrating institutional effectiveness. As faculty have a key role in these efforts, it is important that they are equipped with adequate tools and support. A backward design model with embedded assessments aligned to industry…

This paper argues for the use of "developmental" evaluation as a design-based research tool for sustainable curriculum innovation in professional higher education. Professional education is multi-faceted and complex with diverse views from researchers, professional practitioners, employers and the world of politics leaving little…

The Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) provide a wide-ranging commentary and vision of the interrelationships among curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. Specifically, they describe how the Berkeley Evaluation & Assessment Research (BEAR) Center Assessment System can be used to integrate and systematize these areas. This commentary focuses on…

Although Response to Intervention (RTI) is a necessity for all schools, the truth is that supplemental instruction can never compensate for inadequate core instruction. That's why you need this book's improved approach to RTI. Authors Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey introduce you to a strengthened model of RTI that emphasizes formative assessment…

This paper brings task-based language teaching (TBLT) curriculum development principles into the blended learning context, presenting processes and outcomes from a project to develop a task-based thematic unit--asking and giving directions--in a hybrid web-based university-level class focused on listening and speaking skills in Mandarin Chinese.…

The overall aim of this article is to analyze the relationships between the roles of assessment in pedagogy, the interactions between curriculum assessment and pedagogy, and the study of pupils' progression in learning. It is argued that well-grounded evidence of pupils' progressions in learning is crucial to the work of teachers, so that a method…

A discussion of whether pilot testing or a panel review is the most effective way to evaluate curriculum materials. (HB)

An applied model is presented for the utilization of formative evaluation in developing instructional materials. The model is introduced through a presentation of its conceptual rationale. A description is given of its methodology and instrumentation, and a demonstration presented of its development and utilization within the framework of a…

The paper considers the current international trend towards standards-based evaluation in a historical and comparative perspective. Based on a systematization of evaluation perspectives and tools, two basic patterns of curriculum control are discussed: process evaluation, and product evaluation. Whereas the first type has dominated the Continental…

This article describes the "user-focused" evaluation of the new "Life Sciences and Agriculture" curriculum under current development by the Israeli Ministry of Education for rural and agricultural high schools. The four-step process involves: (1) clarifying curriculum objectives; (2) defining three classes of performance; (3)…

Discusses the special problems of evaluation in a curriculum research and development setting. (Editor/RK)

Discusses means of improving curriculum evaluation, especially with respect to the Australian science curriculum. Provides a clear definition of curriculum'' and suggests a master model for curriculum evaluation. Recent trends in procedures for evaluating student progress are also outlined. (JR)