Portfolios have received mixed but primarily positive reviews in colleges and universities. The portfolio offers a tool of authentic assessment as well as an opportunity for students to be reflective practitioners. Portfolio implementation and evaluation has become a feature of many university departments. The author describes different approaches…

Developing and using a design for teacher portfolio assessment is a complex process including several components: the domain to be assessed (the teacher competences), the content standards or criteria, the portfolio format, the completion of the format (by teachers) with content, and the scoring of the portfolios (by raters). For a portfolio…

This research examines whether non-school literacies can be used to teach school content. Debates around this question have hinged on two arguments: (1) that the structure of school literacy is not compatible with the structure of non-school literacies and (2) that literacies are so hybrid that their use across different domains is not an issue.…

This study examines various aspects of an effective teaching evaluation system. In particular, reference is made to the potential of Fink's (2008) four main dimensions of teaching as a summative evaluation model for effective teaching and learning. It is argued that these dimensions can be readily accommodated in a Teaching Portfolio process. The…

Drawing on a mixed-methods study of in-service learning and skills sector (LSS) trainees, comprising beginning- and end-of-year surveys and six longitudinal case studies together with literature on trainees' development in the LSS, schools and higher education sectors, conceptual and practice development continua are proposed. Conceptions become…

This qualitative study examines one professional development program and how this experience affects teachers' thoughts about planning and science teaching practices specific to the elements focused on during the program. The program supports 13 American K-12 teachers, selected from across the nation, to spend six weeks with a mentor scientist in…

The current investigation examined whether inter-generational transfer of risk could be revealed through mothers' and preschool-aged children's expressive language, and whether continuity of risk persisted in these children's academic abilities, 3 years later. Participating families were drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a…

This paper emanates from the findings of a longitudinal qualitative study of Australian senior high school students' (aged 16-17 years) experiences of their participation in the Study of Teaching post-compulsory vocational programme designed to allow students with an interest in teaching to consider this profession from a new perspective and to…

The purpose of this study was to describe the qualities of preservice early childhood teacher response to a multicultural children's literature project, and to evaluate the project as a means for developing culturally responsive teaching practices in preservice early childhood teachers. Surveys and reflection papers on the project from two reading…

In 1998, the California legislature passed Senate Bill SB 2042 which replaced the previous teacher certification legislation. The new law required that all elementary and secondary teacher certification programs in the State of California align their programs with new teaching standards. These standards included Teacher Performance Expectations…

Infusing creative thinking competence through the design process of authentic projects requires not only changing the teaching methods and learning environment, but also adopting new assessment methods, such as portfolio assessment. The participants in this study were 128 high school pupils who have studied MECHATRONICS from 10th to 12th grades…

This research explored the influence of a Web-based portfolio assessment system on students' performances. The methodological procedure adopted was to have the experimental group use the system, with the control group using conventional assessment. The study subjects were junior high school students of two computer classes. The experimental…

Although distance learning often is cited as a potentially useful strategy to provide appropriately challenging academic coursework to gifted students, little research has been conducted on its use or effectiveness with this population, particularly with younger students in elementary school. In this study, distance learning outcomes for gifted…

If students cannot express themselves in the language of the assessor, and if the assessor is not familiar with the cultural constraints within which students operate, it is difficult for the assessor to collect evidence of adequate performance. This article describes the assessment of three digital artefacts where the assessor strove to…