This book provides a guide for early childhood educators in implementing and using portfolio assessment to measure children's learning. Chapter 1 focuses on, "How Young Children Learn." It explains that children are active learners who learn by doing things repeatedly, by making mistakes, and by being exposed to varying approaches,…

Until 1993, the discussion of teacher education reform in the literature was limited to individual authors' suggestions for a vocational education response to reform initiatives and comments on the problems posed by pressures for reform. Debate on how to pursue excellence in vocational teacher education programs focused on vocational education's…

Program evaluation can be understood as the process of looking at how all aspects of a program or department have been functioning as the basis for informed planning and decision making. Although the objective dimensions used in evaluations can vary, methodologies can be categorized according to the four category framework (i.e., describing…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between classroom instructional practices and computation and geometry achievement. Relationships between mathematics achievement and classroom characteristics were also explored. The sample of 1,032 students and their teachers (n=147) was selected from the 1992 Trial State Mathematics…

Since community colleges play such a key role in meeting the needs for workforce development as well as open access to education, considerable pressure is placed on the colleges to demonstrate their effectiveness. Recently, the focus of assessment in community colleges has shifted from gathering data that legislators and accrediting agencies want…

This anthology presents ideas expressed at the International Society for Education Through Art (INSEA), 1990 Conference. The Conference brought together educators from United States, Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia to examine the current state of assessment and evaluation in the visual arts, and to identify desirable…

The feasibility of using W. E. Deming's total quality management (TQM) method to define instructional quality was examined by surveying three groups of students attending Idaho State University's College of Education and School of Applied Technology: 31 students seeking cosmetology certification; 75 undergraduates pursuing degrees in corporate…

This monograph provides an historical overview of handwriting assessment, followed by suggestions for informally assessing student handwriting errors and implementing improvement strategies. The monograph specifically addresses: (1) research on handwriting; (2) a rationale for remediation of handwriting errors; (3) techniques for evaluating…

The French as a Second Language model tests for junior high school instruction presented here were designed to evaluate students' language performance as outlined in the learner expectations of the Alberta (Canada) second language curriculum. They focus on the specific fields of experience of these levels, but may be adapted for local contexts. An…

The French as a Second Language model test (intermediate level) was designed as a criterion-referenced test using established criteria to measure attainment of learner expectations outlined in the Alberta (Canada) second language curriculum. It is intended for use at the junior and senior high school levels. Each test is based on an organizing…

The DATAWave is a bi-weekly publication that is designed to inform the campus community and broader constituencies on assessment issues and practices at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). The first issue of this fourth volume covers survey results about the effectiveness of the ENMU Assessment Resource Office (ARO) and presents a fall preview…

It is argued that judgments in evaluative research are ultimately subjective, but that good criteria are available to assess their quality. One of these criteria is the robustness of the judgments against incompleteness or uncertainty in the data used to describe the educational system. The use of the robustness criterion is demonstrated through…

In a survey of educational researchers, school and district administrators, and policymakers, 1,818 respondents rated educational practices and policies according to their influence on learning and assessability. Classroom practices, design and delivery of curriculum, and schoolwide practices were rated as more influential than federal, state, and…

Traditionally, outcomes measured by postsecondary vocational education assessment have included labor force participation rates, type of employment, earnings, and employer satisfaction with employees. Today, however, legislators and policymakers are moving more and more toward accountability measures tied to students' educational outcomes, such as…

This practicum addressed the need to provide training and experiences for school psychologists serving preschool children and their families. The practicum involved preparing and presenting inservice training to special education cooperative preschool assessment teams. Inservice training sessions covered: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and…