Tests and exams are a source of stress for many students. High school teacher Jacob Wells has found that he can alleviate some of that stress by allowing students to weigh in on when their assessments are scheduled. He describes why this has been helpful and shares some of the parameters that have made it feasible.

The essay explores the role of Learning Stories in early childhood education and the connection to the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989). The paper highlights the use of Learning Stories in a teacher preparation program and student perspectives on the value of narrative assessment in their work with children, their…

An important element of the classroom assessment event and student performance occurs when students are wrong, which is often denigrated in our success-oriented secondary schools where only being right is valued and reinforced. This article argues that being wrong (sometimes) is an essential experience that enhances learning and motivation.…

Plant identification is a critical skill for students in biological sciences, especially forestry. Many students begin with limited plant identification abilities and struggle to learn this skill. To support student learning of identification and ecological characteristics of important forest plants in an undergraduate forest ecology course at the…

The COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 resulted in the worldwide disruption of teaching and learning in main stream schools and in institutes of higher learning. Singapore was not spared. With the closure of schools in early April, it was imminent that the delivery and assessment of our freshman general chemistry course must be…

While teaching in Taiwan, Ah-Young Song found that asking students for midterm self-reflections helped them to be more attuned to their distinct educational trajectories and that their comments provided useful insights into adjustments that could be made as a teacher. This article describes how two of those English language learners from the…

Scientists and other professionals across the globe require employees to collaborate, think critically, and solve problems effectively. To this end, the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) have a vision of ensuring that through inquiry, collaboration, and evidence-based instruction, students will have the necessary skills to be…

This election factsheet highlights the following points: (1) It isn't always possible to say with certainty from looking at a country's rank in the PISA educational league tables alone whether one country or economy has definitely performed better than another; (2) England's position in the league tables is dependent on which countries and…

Academics teaching large and highly diverse classes are familiar with the inevitable effect this has on promulgating teaching and assessment practices to "middle of the distribution", thus ignoring the distribution extremes. Although the literature documents a wide range of strategies for supporting poor-performing students in large…

In this article, the author investigates whether an alternative grading system (contract grading) would yield the same final grades as traditional grading (letter grading), and whether or not it would be accepted by students. The author states that this study demonstrated that contract grading was widely, and for the most part, enthusiastically…

This article demonstrates, through stories of Ohanian's teaching, journalism experience, and analysis of testing items and outcomes, that we have every right and obligation to challenge institutionalized norms that shape today's views of assessment practices.

The theoretical framework for using alternative assessment in the classroom includes considering learners as constructors of knowledge; finding authenticity in materials and activities; employing dynamic, ongoing evaluation tools; and empowering students. By putting these ideas into practice, individual attributes of initiative, choice, vision,…

This article discusses how an active learning environment was created in a community college class and a high school mathematics class using the same approach. In both settings the NCTM and AMATYC Standards, such as problem solving, communication, use of technology and alternate assessment, were fully embraced. The goal was to have students take…

Standard classroom tests tend to showcase what students know at that point in time and do not usually reflect real-life mathematics. They are not always accurate indicators of what students understand and how they understand it. Portfolios are tools that allow students a better opportunity to exhibit mathematical growth in understanding and…

Describes the use of portfolios in grading and assessment. Discusses advantages of portfolio assessment, Showcase Portfolios, Checklist Portfolios, Open-Format Portfolios, student self-reflection, portfolio scoring, and student perceptions of portfolios. (JRH)