Increased graduate employment is an aspiration of Australian universities who are adopting new and innovative approaches to ensure that all students have opportunities to develop the employability skills much sought after by employers. Placements have been a traditional means for developing such skills but because these are not available to all…

Today 195 countries exist in the world. The purpose of this review was to provide a global picture of the services and opportunities for individuals with dyslexia. The intent was not to provide an exhaustive review of each topic, but rather to provide examples of what is occurring in different countries around the world. Through an Internet…

This report summarizes and further develops ideas discussed at a national working session held on May 23, 2014, to examine issues and options associated with initially classifying English learners (ELs). It is the third in a series of guidance papers intended to support states in large-scale assessment consortia that are expected to move toward a…

This paper presents Part I of a two-part study. This first part reviews the literature of transfer of learning as one of the major goals of instruction. Transfer refers to students' ability to apply knowledge and skills in new learning contexts. The literature suggests partially or non-overlapping definitions, and empirical studies on transfer…

Categorization is one of the fundamental building blocks of cognition, and the study of categorization is notable for the extent to which formal modeling has been a central and influential component of research. However, the field has seen a proliferation of noncomplementary models with little consensus on the relative adequacy of these accounts.…

Background: Since the discontinuation of Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) in science at age 11 in England, pupil performance data in science reported to the UK government by each primary school has relied largely on teacher assessment undertaken in the classroom. Purpose: The process by which teachers are making these judgements has been unclear,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop knowledge about the nature of student assessment practice in entrepreneurship education. Design/methodology/approach: This paper introduces general assessment practice issues and highlights key considerations. It explains prior research on assessment practice in entrepreneurship education and argues…

While measurement precision is relatively easy to establish for single tests and assessments, it is much more difficult to determine for decision making with multiple tests on different subjects. This latter is the situation in the system of final examinations for secondary education in the Netherlands and is used as an example in this paper. This…

In many practical settings, essentially the same differential item functioning (DIF) procedures have been in use since the late 1980s. Since then, examinee populations have become more heterogeneous, and tests have included more polytomously scored items. This paper summarizes and classifies new DIF methods and procedures that have appeared since…

This paper examines the current academic and policy literatures concerning school evaluation in primary and secondary education within the OECD countries. First, it provides a typology of the existing systems of school evaluation across the OECD. It encompasses the diverse criteria and instruments commonly used to carry out schools evaluation, as…

Two inherently contradictory forces are pushing for reform in portfolio assessment. On the one hand there is a felt need for creating more rigid standards that operate to promote uniformity of ratings in appraisal practice to certify achievement. However, on the other hand, critical questions are being raised about separating acclaimed portfolio…

The rapid development of special education for the gifted in Taiwan from 1962 until the present is summarized. The comprehensive system of gifted education, using either the special class or the pull-out is described, along with identification procedures that are based on multi-assessment and use a step-by-step screening process. (Contains…

This paper reviews issues surrounding the use of discrepancy in identifying learning disabilities. Since 1976, it argues, discrepancy has been the primary criterion for defining learning disabilities in practice. In a psychometric and statistical sense, however, issues about the best means for calculating a discrepancy remain problematic. Another…

Reviews distance education advances and suggests prospects for the future. The roles of the federal government and state governments are discussed, a classification of technology-based information systems is presented, the likelihood of a shift from rural to urban uses of distance education is suggested, and slow-scan video systems are described…

The classified honours degree has so much prestige and so venerable a tradition that only very serious and systemic changes could justify the question as to whether classification has a future. However, while this paper argues that such changes have indeed taken place in the past 30 years, the main arguments for change are pedagogical. The…