Critical educational literature suggests that an increased reliance upon performative technologies is currently transforming the very foundations from which teacher subjectivities are constructed. Arguably though, the number of studies pointing to this risk or tendency is considerably larger than the ones theorising why this should be the case.…

Assessment refers to a broad array of approaches for measuring or evaluating a person's (or group of persons') skills, behaviors, dispositions, or other attributes. Assessments range from standardized tests used in admissions, employee selection, licensure examinations, and domestic and international largescale assessments of cognitive and…

An effective assessment process can improve student performance, guide instructional decisions, and advocate for a music program. Strategies include designing and administering reliable and valid measures of student learning and using assessments to enhance feedback, longitudinal documentation of assessment results for accountability, and a…

In this paper, we compare and contrast our experiences in using standards-based grading in different courses and across two separate institutions to explore the related tradeoffs and subtleties in designing and implementing such grading systems, guided by innovation diffusion theory. We summarize our individual courses, use Linda Nilson's criteria…

Professional educators in the classroom, library, counseling center, or anywhere in between share one overarching goal: ensuring all students receive the rich, well-rounded education they need to be productive, engaged, citizens. This regular feature explores the work of professional educators--their accomplishments and their challenges--so that…

Many theories, methods, and practices are utilized to evaluate teachers with the intention of determining teacher effectiveness to better inform decisions about retention, tenure, certification and performance-based pay. In the 21st century there has been a renewed emphasis on teacher evaluation in public schools, largely due to federal "Race…

The educational technologies of the past quarter century--from teaching machines to minimal competency testing--all share the general purpose of helping educators make better, or more uniform, decisions. The currently favored technique for shaping local decisions is criterion-referenced testing. Some criterion-referenced testers first find out how…

Much of the argument about comparability of examination standards is at cross-purposes; contradictory positions are in fact often both defensible, but they are using the same words to mean different things. To clarify this, two broad conceptualisations of standards can be identified. One sees the standard in the observed phenomena of performance…

Robert Coe has claimed that three broad conceptions of comparability can be identified from the literature: performance, statistical and conventional. Each of these he rejected, in favour of a single, integrated conception which relies upon the notion of a "linking construct" and which he termed "construct comparability".…

This article details two ways in which web-based practice activities were used to support instruction and enhance preservice teachers' learning in a course on teaching reading to students with learning disabilities. First, we describe two performance-based assessments used to evaluate the integration of preservice teachers' knowledge and skills…

The concerns postmodernists have about evaluations, especially in education, are explored. Postmodernist and standards-based perspectives on evaluation are described, and specific questions about the role of postmodernism in evaluation are addressed from a standards-based perspective. (SLD)

Response-to-intervention (RTI) technical adequacy standards should follow from model purpose, procedural specification, procedural adherence, outcome determination, and subsequent plans. Therefore, RTI raises atypical measurement questions for practice, and, for this reason, it may require hybridized technical adequacy methods. Due to RTI model…

Performance is the actual work that is done to assure that an organization achieves its mission, and aligning that performance assures that the path to the mission is harmonious. Alignment exists when all people involved understand the dimensions of the work and want to achieve and improve alignment. This book presents the "Language of Work" model…

Introduces the articles of this theme issue focusing on performance assessment methodology. Papers address: (1) merging item formats; (2) scoring models; (3) equating and linking; (4) generalizability theory; (5) standard setting methods; and (6) validity issues and methods. (SLD)

This article describes the tension between standards-based assessment on a macro level and authentic assessment on a micro level. Content standards arguably supply systematic criteria for quantitative measures to report trends and establish policy. Qualitative measures, such as rubrics, student profiles, and observational records, fill in the gaps…