This article reveals three emerging areas of conflict in the use of educational assessment instruments in compulsory education in Switzerland and outlines an analytical approach for detecting and analysing these areas of conflict. The approach combines a conceptual perspective, an evaluation perspective and a teaching perspective to show the…

We hereby present the main conclusions and perspectives obtained by the Group of Teaching Innovation in Electronics (Grupo de Innovación Docente en Electrónica, GIDEN) of the University of Valladolid (UVa) with regard to its main areas of work. This group comprises teachers of the "Specialty in Industrial Electronics" degree, and the…

In the past, engineering programmes were developed with separate technical learning outcomes supplemented by generic attributes. The latter were in most cases a standalone set of attributes developed by academic institutions or professional societies overseeing engineering accreditation processes. Although the technical learning outcomes were well…

This study examined the assessment literacy of primary/junior teacher candidates in all four years of their concurrent program. Candidates from each year of the program completed a survey pertaining to self-described level of assessment literacy, main purposes of assessment, utilization of different assessment methods, need for further training,…

The Degrees of Reading Power Test was developed to address some existing problems in testing comprehension. The test design reflects the need to consider problems of passage dependency, difficulty of questions, tests for continuous text, and sensitivity to gains. It emphasizes a set of response options controlled for familiarity, a text that is…

Describes an interim program which stresses pre- and in-service teacher cooperation in constructing instructional modules according to university determined competency model prior to actual student teaching. Indicates acquisition of advantages by both experienced and prospective teachers through interactions with school students. (CC)

This study investigates relationships between teachers' receipt of high-stakes test score results of their students and subsequent changes in instructional and classroom assessment practices the following year. The sample consisted of 722 elementary, middle, and high school teachers. The results indicate that most teachers reported using the…

Compares the performance of music teachers with teachers of other subjects on the 10 competencies selected by the Alabama Career Incentive Program. Reports that music teachers' competency scores were below the mean for all teachers on 7 of the 10 competencies, but that music teachers outperformed other teachers in using materials and eliciting…

This four-week unit on the American economic system for secondary students is intended to be a basic literacy unit in economics and to serve as a "sampler kit" demonstrating how economics can be taught interestingly, imaginatively, and with intellectual honesty to the subject matter. The unit's goals for students include ability to list the major…

The minimum competency movement's rationale can be reduced to four problem-laden propositions: the state through its schools owes every child an education; a high school graduate should be at least minimally competent; schools should be held accountable for seeing to it that every child meets this standard; and to assure this, every child must be…

This paper analyzes mastery learning as an alternative to curriculum planning and discusses implementation of the strategy in a prekindergarten through eighth-grade school district in Red Bank, New Jersey. The paper briefly describes district schools and circumstances affecting the school board's decision to implement mastery learning; discusses…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…