As readers of "Assessment Update" know, the call for assessment is sweeping over the globe, so much so that faculty and administrators are finding it difficult to ignore it--though many may wish they could. Unfortunately, awareness does not lead to an increase in assessment implementation because fear of assessment is still widespread. The push…

Although millions of dollars and weeks of instructional time are spent nationally on testing students, educators often have little information on how to choose appropriate assessments of adolescent reading for informing instruction. This guide is designed to meet that need, by drawing together evidence about nine of the most commonly-used,…

This report presents the outcomes of the analysis of Grade Level of Achievement (GLA) data at the provincial level to inform the program planning and evaluation needs of Alberta Education as well as school and central office based administrators. GLA data reported to Alberta Education is a teacher's judgment of a student's academic progress. GLA…

This volume reports on innovative, useful evaluation work conducted within U.S. college foreign language programs. An introductory chapter scopes out the territory, reporting key findings from research into the concerns, impetuses, and uses for evaluation that FL educators identify. Seven chapters then highlight examples of evaluations conducted…

This handbook provides a practical model for developing and using a comprehensive faculty evaluating system that responds to the specific needs, concerns, and characteristics of the faculty and administration of an individual academic unit. It outlines an eight-step procedure that focuses on the determination of: (1) the faculty role model; (2)…

Describes some of the realities associated with engineering careers. Emphasizes the importance of giving students a broader understanding of life as an engineer. Indicates that groups should support research programs to investigate more effective use of trained persons who have been discarded in midcareer. (RT)

Articles included in this document serve as a means to educate teachers, school psychologists, and parents about attention problems in children. Attention problems, including Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, are among the most common and most controversial disorders in children. Children with attention…

This guide shows why organizations need an assessment strategy to raise the quality and flexibility of the assessment they provide for learners. It contains guidelines to assist organizations in designing a strategy for offering a range of services for their own particular context. Section 1 discusses why organizations need an assessment policy.…

Divided into two sections, this report describes research on the range and degree of assessment of students' communication skills in colleges and universities and includes the following findings: (1) of the 384 respondents from college speech communication departments, 45 reported using large-scale, uniform testing of students; (2) these…

Government pressures for universities to demonstrate greater efficiency while maintaining the quality of their activities have resulted in a range of performance indicators being adopted. However, questions of quality in teaching, learning, and research are hardly addressed by these indicators. Instead, more tangible measures of input and output…

Evaluation of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) programs is needed to provide feedback (descriptive data about a school's offerings) and accountability (program accomplishments). Thorough program evaluation verifies both a district's thoughtful, written philosophy of foreign language education and local goals. Some FLES program…

This handbook offers a practical model for developing a comprehensive faculty evaluation system that responds to the specific needs, concerns, and characteristics of faculty and administration in an individual academic unit. The eight steps of the model are: (1) determining the faculty role model; (2) determining faculty role model parameter…

The South Carolina Trade Examinations for Trade and Industrial Education teachers are administered semi-annually by the South Carolina State Department of Education, Office of Vocational Education, Vocational Teacher Education Programs Unit. This handbook is designed to provide prospective trade and industrial education teachers, vocational…

Suggests an evaluative model for assessing the quality of a music program that asks questions concerning goals and objectives, leadership of the program, staffing, curriculum and scheduling, instructional materials, and learning outcomes. Advocates the guidelines proposed by the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in assessing what…

This manual is designed for superintendents, principals, teachers, and interested community members who are conducting self-evaluations as prescribed by Ohio Minimum Standards for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Its objective is to provide districts with direction to engage in self-evaluation studies using assessment instruments that promote…