This study investigates the effect of method of assessment on student performance. Five research conditions go together with one of four assessment modes, namely: portfolio, case-based, peer assessment, and multiple choice evaluation. Data collection is done by means of a pre-test/post-test-design with the help of two standardised tests (N=816).…

Nebraska districts use different strategies for measuring student performance on the state's content standards. District assessments differ in type and technical quality. Six quality criteria were endorsed by the state. These criteria cover content and curricular validity, fairness, and appropriateness of score interpretations. District assessment…

This paper reviews the concept of high-stakes assessment against a background of postmodernism, and argues that the inaccessibility of cognitive processes is only one part of the problem of reading assessment: even greater challenges are posed by a postmodern analysis, in which an incredulity toward metanarratives leads to a series of six…

Two teacher institutions in Norway involved in a new ICT-supported portfolio project provide data for our study. In this paper we present a model of analysis for portfolio processes based on sociocultural perspectives of learning and assessment and describe and discuss differences and similarities of the portfolio models in these institutions in…

With the pre-service student portfolio process and product well in hand in a paper-based format, in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) (B.Ed. Primary) at University of Western Sydney (UWS), new horizons have presented themselves. These new possibilities are facilitated but not driven by developments in Information and Communication Technology…

In this article the authors address several important areas that combine to illuminate the portfolio as performance, index, and design. They provide an in-depth look at the conceptual foundation and selected functional implications of portfolios. Accordingly, the foundations laid here may serve as a basis for further development and application to…

This article uses the Kentucky portfolio assessment to illustrate ways a sophisticated writing requirement can stimulate statewide professional development and school change. Though the authors question the accountability function of the assessment, they applaud the broad and deep professional development movement that has resulted because of it.…

This paper discusses the development of an interactive approach to teaching and assessing a micro anatomy curriculum in an innovative medical school program. As an alternative to lectures and labs, students are engaged in interactive seminars focused on discussion of clinical and research-based cases matched with normal histology and pathology…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first the paper aims to sketch the theoretical basis for the use of electronic portfolios for prior learning assessment; second it endeavours to introduce latent semantic analysis (LSA) as a powerful method for the computation of semantic similarity between texts and a basis for a new observation link…

Beginning in the fall of 2008 (and continuing through the spring of 2013), Virginia State University, America's first fully state supported four-year institution of higher learning for Blacks and one of two land-grant institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, launched a comprehensive and ambitious program to develop a culture of writing (and…

Computer-based technologies offer promise as a means to assess students and provide teachers with better understandings of their students' achievement. This article describes recent developments in computer-based and web-based reading and literacy assessment, focusing on assessment administration, information management, and report creation. In…

Many electronic portfolios become shining but superficial collections instead of environments for nurturing insight. Instructors must balance instructional time between perfecting the technical expertise of the student and fully developing the critical expertise needed for the student to become a thoughtful scholar. In a deliberate move, I have…

Technology has received much praise and blame for its uses and influence in higher education over the past twenty-five years. It has been widely praised for its contributions to management efficiencies, information access and analysis, improved communications, and innovative educational applications in colleges and universities. But it has also…

Career paths and transition services were investigated for students with disabilities who were exiting special education for comparison with two models of transition developed by Siegel (1998) and Greene (2003). Teachers and parent-mentors from 52 local education agencies (LEAs) conducted a record review and an exit interview of 741 students with…

Jo-Anne Kerr relies on teacher-research practices to discover insights for making her classes more beneficial to "resistant learners." She shares her experience of observing two previously struggling male vocational-technical students, conducting informal and formal interviews with them throughout the year, and collecting data from their…