A situated/sociocultural (SC) view of assessment "emphasizes questions about the quality of students' participation in activities of inquiry and sense-making, and considers assessment practices as integral components of the general systems of activity in which they occur" (Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1997, p. 36). This presentation addresses two…

Outcomes assessment is increasingly important to regional accrediting agencies, which are requiring self-study reports to not only analyze the outcomes assessment efforts, but also use assessment results to improve programs. This paper illustrates the process in a university-wide required business communications course by discussing the problems…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the principal evaluation portfolio process as it had an impact on leadership effectiveness, student achievement, professional development of teachers, and the reflective practice of the principal. The school district chosen for the study was a rural consolidated pre-K-12 district in New…

This study examines the usefulness of a networked portfolio assessment system for cooperative learning. The system is with instructional methods that expresses ideas via written report and oral presentation, accumulated dialogues through inquiries between peers, critical thinking via peer-assessment and self-assessment, and knowledge construction…

This paper presents results from two qualitative studies of preservice and inservice teacher portfolios that considered how portfolios function as tools for knowledge representation and reflective thinking. In the first study, data were collected from think-aloud protocols, semi-structured participant interviews, and the analysis of supporting…

This paper describes the portfolio assessment system used in the master's degree program in educational leadership at San Jose State University, California. For the past 10 years students have demonstrated competence with a portfolio exhibition instead of written or oral comprehensive examinations. The five major concepts for the program reflect…

This book looks at how portfolios may be used in the teaching profession as a powerful tool to help educators examine their beliefs about teaching, achieve personal growth and development, and work toward self-improvement. Each part of the book is independently authored. Section 1, by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Ellen Vogt, focuses on the…

This pamphlet describes the process of beginning to use portfolios in an elementary teacher training program. It defines the concept of portfolios and provides a rationale for their use in teacher education programs. Portfolios are suggested for use in preservice teacher education in three ways: to evaluate the preservice teacher education…

This paper focuses on how best to evaluate student achievement in science. Many issues such as issues of test construction, validity, and reliability, and how to measure hands-on achievement must be considered. Qualitative evaluations are harder to explain, but can yield valuable information. The use of portfolios is an example of a technique that…

Portfolios for preservice teachers have become commonplace. However, their use in administrator training programs has met with resistance because of problems inherent in portfolio design and the fact that they are difficult to assess. A portfolio design is suggested in this paper that consists of a leadership framework and a belief matrix. The…

Providing a foundation in which researchers may build future research and theory and in which teachers may design more effective classroom practice, this book presents 12 essays that bring together the contributions of researchers and teacher-scholars to present the significant theory and research related to the writing process. The book is…

Project Spectrum is a collaborative research and development project offering an alternative approach to assessment and curriculum development for preschool and early primary education. The project, based on Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and David Henry Feldman's nonuniversal development theory, emphasizes closely observing…

The marriage of computer-assisted and portfolio-based approaches to freshman composition, while already in place at other institutions of higher education, is a new approach at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Intended as a part of the English Department's ongoing effort to improve the quality of instruction, computer-assisted,…

Based on the view that a simple and efficient process of portfolio collection could be developed based on authentically documenting the daily experiences of children in away-from-home settings, this book identifies steps in the processes of portfolio planning, collection, and selection, and conferencing with families. The book is intended for…

This report discusses the effects of the "competing values" of community college administrators and faculty members on faculty evaluation programs. College administrators and faculty often have different perceptions about why an appraisal process is implemented. Community college administrators share a belief that their institutions should be…