The Chinese have been using standardized testing for centuries. Ancient Greeks have tried it for centuries since 5th and 4th BC. There is no evidence that they have become successful in educating their children through an imperial or elitist system. The impact of standardizing the education on a nation is significant. This is not only true for not…

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS[R] EVAAS[R]) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as "the most robust and reliable" system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS[R] EVAAS[R] as…

The research reported in this paper is focused directly on assessing the validity of the "Teaching Knowledge about Reading and Reading Practices" (TKRRP) assessment. Following the recommendations of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (APA/AERA, 1999), the authors see validation as a process of constructing an…

This article reports on a case study of negotiation that occurred in peer group oral interactions under assessment conditions. Discourse analysis was used to illustrate how participants negotiated and co-constructed the assessment format itself as well as meaning exchange sequences. Analyses of the data point to the advantage of using peer group…

Purpose: This study evaluated the validity and utility of the Local Public Health System Assessment Instrument (Local Instrument) of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program in rural settings. Methods: The study compared the Local Instrument scores of 6 rural local public health systems to external assessments of those public…

Case studies are an accepted method for reporting treatment outcomes. However, to be useful and authentic, a systematic and principled approach to collecting, analyzing, and reporting case data must be observed. This paper proposes a basic case study format for documenting augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention to ensure…

Based on the evaluation of 24 faculty development programs in the United States and other scholarly activities, the benefits of systematic planning and evaluation of faculty development programs are considered. In addition, a set of field tested instruments for planning and evaluation and case studies of institutional programs are presented, and…