A Computer Tutor for Writers (CTW) was designed to provide procedural facilitation to high school students while they learn the skills and knowledge associated with composition writing. Four previous year-long studies helped identify how to facilitate specific elements of the writing process. The CTW was designed to combine lessons learned from…

Our initial intention was to set out to explore the potential for implementing outcome-based assessment practices in a first year statistics unit. It has evolved into a search for a pedagogy enabling clear definition of the desired learning outcomes in our students, and alignment of instruction, student resources and assessment with these…

The National Endowment for the Humanities and University of Texas (NEH-UT) collaborative project was established to develop authentic and practical tests of spoken Russian for younger, beginning students of Russian, and to create a guide for their implementation into instruction. The development process involved teachers of Russian at the middle,…

This guide for novice teachers includes ten sections: (1) "A Knowing Colleague as Counsel...About the Policies, Practices, and Politics!" (proactively seek a mentor); (2) "A Place Called 'My Room' for Students To Grow, To Groom, and To Zoom!" (create a climate that fosters growth and pride); (3) "A Method for Managing 1,500 Decisions: On Your…

The purpose of this study was to examine how a Web-based software program impacted lower elementary students' composition of personal narratives when using a supported paragraph activity. The subjects in this experiment were first and second grade students in a multi-age classroom in a low socio-economic urban community. The participants were…

This study presents preliminary findings from research developing an instructional quality assessment (IQA) toolkit that could be used to monitor the influence of reform initiatives on students' learning environments and to guide professional development efforts within a school or district. This report focuses specifically on the portion of the…

The purpose of this study was to develop a program to help cultivate divergent thinking in mathematics based on open-ended problems and to investigate its effect. The participants were 398 seventh grade students attending middle schools in Seoul. A method of pre- and post-testing was used to measure mainly divergent thinking skills through…

This report deals with a variety of ways that have been, or could be, used to interpret the scales used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Policymakers, researchers, and other users of assessment results need to understand the methods used for reporting NAEP. Having a reference is particularly important as the methods of…

McNamee and Chen describe the Bridging assessment system they developed to measure performance on specific learning tasks for pre-K through 3rd-grade students. Bridging assesses an individual student's skill level on learning tasks in five curricular areas: language arts and literacy, visual arts, mathematics, science, and performing arts. The…

A Pennsylvania district used study groups to help teachers districtwide change their science teaching to standards-based practice of inquiry. Standards-based inquiry instruction requires that teachers have a deeper content knowledge as well as understand the process of inquiry. Making those changes requires support and a collegial environment.

This study explores the utility of analytic scoring for the TOEFL® Academic Speaking Test (TAST) in providing useful and reliable diagnostic information in three aspects of candidates' performance: delivery, language use, and topic development. G studies were used to investigate the dependability of the analytic scores, the distinctness of the…

This paper reports on the New Jersey State Department of Education's research process for developing a scoring rubric that assesses test objectives and higher order thinking skills through writing. New Jersey's statewide assessment program includes a written essay portion to test students' ability to write on a given topic and communicate an…

This document contains a Handbook, a Guidebook, and an Implementation Guide. The Handbook, designed to complement the Guidebook, discusses topics such as: "What is an Educational Portfolio?"; "Types of Portfolios in the Teacher Preparation Program"; "Types of Artifacts for Documentation in the INTASC Standards";…

This paper summarizes the standardized procedures and psychometric standards states must follow in developing performance-based assessment. The National Reporting System (NRS), which serves as the accountability system for federally funded adult education and literacy programs, requires that states have their local programs assess educational gain…

With the increasing prevalence of online education, institutions of higher education may encounter challenges as they seek to hire instructors who have the skills, knowledge base, and competencies that "best fit" the unique characteristics associated with online teaching. This article describes the initial development of the Systematic Interview…