When teachers work with students exhibiting academic failure, they may look to factors outside of instruction such as a student's home life or perceived disability as explanations. Placing the locus of control outside of the instructional context becomes a convenient way to escape culpability for unsatisfactory outcomes. A more functional approach…

This research aimed to investigate and develop an online system for educational measurement and evaluation with a focus on authentic assessment. The research process consisted of four main stages: (1) analyzing the current state and carrying out qualitative interviews on authentic assessment, (2) developing an online measurement and evaluation…

In this paper we assert that the practice of principled assessment design renders traditional standard-setting methodology redundant at best and contradictory at worst. We describe the rationale for, and methodological details of, Embedded Standard Setting (ESS; previously, Engineered Cut Scores. Lewis, 2016), an approach to establish performance…

Computer-based technological tools can be an efficient and effective way to enhance mathematics classroom activities like formative assessment. Whilst there are a number of theoretical frameworks and standards to help pre- and in-service teachers understand the individual complexities of mathematics pedagogy, technology integration, and formative…

Assessment can be challenging for professionals in the early childhood setting, given the variety of ways that young children show what they know. Early childhood professionals who work with children with exceptionalities take into consideration individual needs when planning for assessments. Authentic assessment provides a more complete picture…

Simulated testing has become more prevalent in higher education, especially as competency-based institutions begin to incorporate micro-credentials and skills certificates into their curriculum. Competency-based assessment falls outside traditional norm-based testing practices used in K-12 education, and is largely focused on criterion referenced…

In response to research demonstrating that Tennessee Extension agents desired a performance appraisal system that better reflected their jobs and provided for appraisers' professional development, a committee of University of Tennessee and Tennessee State University personnel undertook a 2-year initiative to revise the performance appraisal…

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…

Policy analysts have advocated for better licensure assessments to determine leadership candidate quality and improve readiness for school leadership roles. Through a professionally guided design team process, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) developed initial leadership assessments [three cycles of the California Administrator…

John R. Troutman McCrann, a math educator and teacher leader at Harvest Collegiate High School in New York City, writes that teachers' autonomy to design and assess student learning has been siphoned away. In this article, he makes an argument for why assessment should be left in the hands of those who know students and standards…

The development of any assessment should be an iterative and careful process. Ideally, this process is guided by a well-defined framework (see for example Downing in: Downing and Haladyna (eds) "Handbook of test development," Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2006; Mislevy et al. in "On the roles of task model variables in…

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are an essential component of structured interviews. Use of BARS to evaluate interviewees' performance is associated with greater predictive validity and reliability and less bias. BARS are time-consuming and expensive to construct, however. This report explores the feasibility of gathering participants'…

With the advent of the newly developed Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, innovative assessments, including technology-enhanced items and tasks, will be needed to meet the challenges of developing valid and reliable assessments in a world of computer-based testing. In a recent critique of the next generation…

This contribution shows an example of how an assessment innovation can serve as a flywheel for changing teaching and learning. This article first explains the development of an authentic, competence-based performance assessment in pre-vocational secondary education (pre-VET). Using these assessments in "pre"-VET, that is preparatory to…

Assessing student performance is a central challenge for music educators. In alignment with previous research, this article asserts that rubrics provide a viable and useful structure for assessing music performance. To expand the potential of rubrics in music education, challenges to effective rubric construction are identified and addressed…