Teacher educators have found portfolios to be a valuable way to judge readiness for student-teaching and initial certification as well as an effective means of examining and validating teacher preparation programs. Tension exists between using the portfolio as a product for evaluation and maintaining its focus as a personal examination, synthesis,…

This study concerns the relation between teachers' beliefs towards teaching behaviour and their actual teaching behaviour in teacher portfolio assessment. We analysed the beliefs and behaviour of 18 teachers as described in their portfolios. In addition, each portfolio was independently assessed by two trained raters on eight content standards and…

Three literacy teacher-educators chart the ways in which portfolio assessment impacted their program. They discuss the tension between the demands of national accreditation standards and faculty belief systems in more ecological approaches. They describe the processes of change that occurred programmatically and individually which continue to…

This study examines cognitive and social processes in group interactions that shape collaborative learning in science classrooms. Three small groups of students were observed while working collaboratively on explaining the burning of a candle under a jar. The learning environment served as a context for examination of conceptual convergence, a…

This profile describes traditional assessment practices in Armenia--many of which are typical of those formerly practised throughout the Soviet Union--and the ongoing efforts to reform formal examinations and school-based evaluation techniques. The extraordinarily high stakes associated with the examination currently used to select applicants for…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of engineering design classroom activities on conceptual change in science, and on attitudes toward and knowledge about engineering. Students were given a situated learning context and a rationale for learning science in an active, inquiry-based method, and worked in small collaborative…

Portfolios are popular in language teaching, both as a learning tool and a process-oriented assessment instrument. They require the compilation of student projects, performances, and other assignments over a semester or school year to record the growth of learning. When portfolios are used for evaluation, they are called an alternative assessment…

A comprehensive approach for integrating technology into a TESOL teacher preparation program is described. Ten specific ways to assure constructivist technology use in teacher education are highlighted. These techniques have been synthesized into a compact model with three pillars: (a) electronic assessment system (e-portfolios for individual…

Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities…

Digital teaching portfolios have been proposed as an effective tool for teacher learning and professional development, but there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness. This study proposed the design of a structured digital portfolio equipped with multiple aids (e.g. self-assessment, peer assessment, discussion and journal…

This study aims to begin to uncover the detailed ways that pre-service elementary teachers examine and understand mathematics teaching, the grain size at which they do so, and what constitutes evidence of teaching mathematics for understanding for pre-service mathematics teachers. Thus, the central research questions for this study are: (a) What…

Formative assessment has recently become a focus of renewed research as state and federal policy-makers realize that summative assessments have reached a point of diminishing returns as a tool for increasing student achievement. Consequently, supporters of large-scale testing programs are now beginning to consider the potential of formative…

In an effort to generate a bottom-up approach for the program-wide implementation of electronic portfolios, this article first reports on the ways in which teacher candidates perceived the benefits and setbacks of this experience, after an initial course. Second, this article reports on whether and how the teacher candidates continued to develop…

Describes one teacher's implementation of portfolio assessment in high school chemistry classrooms in an effort to hold students accountable for more than mere factual recall and to involve students proactively in the assessment process. Discusses the setting, the portfolio, evaluation, and outcomes. (JRH)

Describes the process used by the Credentialing Committee of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics to validate evaluation criteria for nursing portfolios using neural network programs. Illustrates how standards are translated into measurable competencies and provides a scoring guide. (SK)