Authentic assessment "refers to the systematic collection of information about the naturally occurring behaviors of young children and families in their daily routines" (Neisworth & Bagnato, 2004, p. 204). In formative assessments, the assessment information informs instruction. Formative assessments are given periodically and should be used to…

This study assesses the effects of the use of learning strategies on student literacy performance based on the 2002 Hong Kong Program for International Student Assessment. The descriptive statistics show that students use the memorization strategy almost as frequently as the elaboration strategy. Independent sample t-tests reveal that female…

Is your local authority using outcomes based accountability for planning and managing the performance of services? If yes, does it lead to an improvement? The Outcomes Based Accountability (OBA) approach uses performance management categories that distinguish between "How much did we do?", "How well did we do it?" and "Is…

This publication describes a comprehensive approach to assessment known as authentic assessment, which can be used with children who are deaf-blind or have multiple disabilities. Authentic assessment involves obtaining information about children in their everyday environments during normal activities. It provides a way to learn what children know…

This paper critiques a 2008 Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) assessment initiative known as Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks, or QCATs. The rhetoric is that these centrally devised assessment tasks will provide information about how well students can apply what they know, understand and can do in different contexts (QSA, 2009). The QCATs…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and perceived pedagogical utility of a multidimensional weighted performance assessment rubric used in Kansas state high school large-group festivals. Data were adjudicator rubrics (N = 2,016) and adjudicator and director questionnaires (N = 515). Rubric internal consistency was…

This study was aimed at comparing the impact of three types of case-based approaches (worked example, faded work example, and case-based reasoning) on preservice teachers' decision making and reasoning skills related to realistic classroom management situations. Participants in this study received a short-term implementation of one of these three…

This article reviews how practical work, including practical skills, is currently summatively assessed in school science in a number of countries and makes comparisons with how other subjects, such as music and modern foreign languages, summatively assess skills. Whilst practical skills in school science are clearly valued as being of importance,…

This article develops the familiar metaphor of teaching as performance towards a definition of "teaching as performative act," where words and actions aim to effect cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes in learners. To what extent, however, are the consequences of pedagogical actions commensurate with their intended effects? Can a science…

This study examined the representational patterns of English language learners (ELLs) receiving special education services in school districts in a southeastern Texas region over a 7-year period. Results indicated that although relative risk ratios have decreased over time, the region as a whole continued to show overrepresentation of ELLs in…

With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Virtual Performance Assessment project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is developing and studying the feasibility of immersive virtual performance assessments (VPAs) to assess scientific inquiry of middle school students as a standardized component of an accountability…

Assessment in dance presents several challenges because it is primarily performance based. It can be difficult to observe several students simultaneously moving and also assess how they meet the stated criteria. Sometimes there are only a few seconds to observe a movement and a student may need to be asked to repeat the movement several times.…

This study examined the effects of self-explanation prompts on problem-solving performance. In total, 47 students were recruited and trained to debug web-program code in an online learning environment. Students in an open self-explanation group were asked to explain the problem cases to themselves, whereas a complete other-explanation group was…

Many agencies serving survivors of domestic violence are required to evaluate their services. Three possible evaluation strategies include: a) process measurement, which typically involves a frequency count of agency activities, such as the number of counseling hours given; b) outcome evaluation, which measures the impact of agency activities on…

In this article, we examine the utility and value of multiple measures of school performance for school leaders and managers. The research was conducted within the context of the state of California through an investigation of how operators, managers and authorisers of autonomous "charter" (publicly financed but privately operated)…