This paper presents a critical review of literature investigating assessment of mathematical modelling. Written tests, projects, hands-on tests, portfolio and contests are modes of modelling assessment identified in this study. The written tests found in the reviewed papers draw on an atomistic view on modelling competencies, whereas projects are…

Purpose: This paper aims to connect participatory sustainability implementation with sustainability assessment, exploring learning theories, the principles of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) and respective indicators applied in the university context. Even though participation is partly considered in existing assessment…

Historically speaking, students were judged long before they were marked. The tradition of marking, or scoring, pieces of work students offer for assessment is little more than two centuries old, and was introduced mainly to cope with specific problems arising from the growth in the numbers graduating from universities as the industrial revolution…

It has become a normative practice to include Performance-Based Accountability (PBA) policies in educational reforms to foster school changes that enhance student learning and success. There is considerable variation in PBA models that have an important impact on how they operate in schools. It is, therefore, important to characterize PBA models…

An abundance of comprehensive school reform (CSR) literature exists illustrating CSRs are effective in improving student outcomes. However, much of this research reports on top-down reforms, focuses on academic outcomes, and uses quantitative methods alone. Many educational researchers have argued for the use of mixed methods for providing a…

This paper presents the response of the technology teacher education programmes at the University of Limerick to the assessment challenge created by the shift in philosophy of the Irish national curriculum from a craft-based focus to design-driven education. This study observes two first year modules of the undergraduate programmes that focused on…

This paper reviews models of program evaluation. Major topics and issues found in the evaluation literature include quantitative versus qualitative approaches, identification and involvement of stakeholders, formulation of research questions, collection of data, analysis and interpretation of data, reporting of results, evaluation utilization, and…

It is easier to talk about a desire to create a report card for higher education--to evaluate its success--than to actually do it. While some objective data are available, success also depends upon the choice of relevant criteria. This choice and the interpretation of the data vary depending upon the view one brings to the study. Moreover, it is…

This book describes a strategy for school reform, "planning backwards from exhibitions," which is a collective invention of the Coalition of Essential Schools. The strategy is based on the principle that graduation from high school should be based on genuine achievement. The first article, by Joseph P. McDonald, explains that the purpose of…

This report provides suggestions on how a language arts writing skills assessment program could be structured to ensure that school districts in Oregon carry out the intent of state standards. The report includes: (1) a list of common curriculum goals that relate to writing; (2) general implications for assessment; (3) criteria for differentiating…

The complexity of writing as a skill domain and the lack of consensus about its components have engendered much controversy about the type, length, or number of tasks that should be administered in a given test form and even about whether some aspects of composition require direct assessment through writing samples. Acknowledging this, a study was…

This book describes a procedure for scoring writing samples with holistic methods and for analyzing the results with methods from primary trait scoring, analytical scoring, and discourse scoring. Following an introduction, the four chapters in the book focus on (1) the selection of topics to be used in a writing assessment, (2) the format for…

Analytic scoring was added to the 1994 Iowa Writing Assessment as a complement to focused holistic scoring. Four trait scores are provided: ideas/content, organization, voice, and conventions. Scoring protocols were developed on the basis of students' actual writing samples, with particular attention to factors affecting the fairness and…

The Primary Trait System (PTS) of scoring was devised by the National Assessment of Educational Progress to score large numbers of natural writing samples. Essentially, PTS permits evaluation of writing in an objective way, but one that does not rely on scoring surface features such as mechanics, grammar, or spelling. While the assessment value of…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores approaches to, problems with, and trends in large scale writing assessment. The digest first compares direct and indirect assessment approaches, then examines three approaches to scoring: holistic, primary trait, and analytic. It then discusses issues and…