The purpose of this study was to describe secondary teachers' formative assessment practices and to examine the relationship of these practices to student motivation. The sample included 3,242 students and 161 grade 6-12 teachers. Teachers and students completed self-report questionnaires that focused on both formative assessment and motivation…

The research presented in this manuscript was focused on the development of assessments for engineering design outcomes. The primary goal was to support efforts by the Transferrable Integrated Design Engineering Education (TIDEE) consortium in developing assessment instruments for multidisciplinary engineering capstone courses. Research conducted…

easyCBM[R] is an online benchmark and progress monitoring assessment system designed for use within a response to intervention (RTI) framework. Part of the purpose of easyCBM[R] is to help educators identify students who may be at risk for failure. Often, students deemed at-risk are those who would be predicted to not pass the state test. Previous…

This study was carried out in the context of formative assessment where assessment and learning were integrated to enhance both teaching and learning. The purpose of the study was to: (a) identify pupils' ideas about biological inheritance through the use of a concept cartoon, pupils' drawings and talk, and (b) devise scaffolding structures that…

Although interim assessments are currently promoted as a mechanism for improving teaching and student learning, we know little about how teachers use this data to modify instruction. This article presents findings from a larger study on teachers' use of interim assessment information in elementary mathematics. We address the following questions:…

Data-driven instructional improvement relies on developing coherent systems that allow school staff to generate, interpret, and act upon quality formative information on students and school programs. This article offers a formative feedback system model that captures how school leaders and teachers structure artifacts and practices to create…

This paper describes the delivery of action learning sets to students on the peer educator course provided by the Dementia Studies Department at University of Bradford. Our understanding of action learning sets is laid out together with our rationale for their use on this course. Feedback is presented that described a conflicted, even confused…

The days of top-down communication and controlled internal messages at a library organization are--or should be--behind us. Modern libraries must be fluid and flexible organizations with equally nimble internal communication infrastructures in place to keep up with the fast-paced environments that have been created in these organizations. As is…

"The impact of web-based lecture technologies on current and future practice in learning and teaching" was a collaborative project across four Australian universities, funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). The project was both exploratory and developmental in nature and according to the project's external…

Teaching the evaluation of information resources can be daunting for both students and educators. In an information environment in which resource types are ever-changing, how does the school librarian assess the evaluative skills of students? The assessments ought to reflect the malleable nature of online resources. To engage students in a…

A grant project was designed to facilitate the transition of students from a community college adult education program into a community college credit-degree program in manufacturing. Key features of the program included a focus on identifying policy implications; bridging the separation between the adult education segment of the community college…

Formative assessment, or assessment for learning, has been championed by assessment specialists and increasingly endorsed by professional organizations. Although it may be particularly beneficial for secondary students, the implementation of formative assessment at the secondary level has met with some resistance. To take stock of the research…

D. Howell, E. Breivik, and J. B. Wilcox (2007) have presented an important and interesting analysis of formative measurement and have recommended that researchers abandon such an approach in favor of reflective measurement. The author agrees with their recommendations but disagrees with some of the bases for their conclusions. He suggests that…

The preparation of culturally and linguistically responsive special educators requires planning, substantive collaboration, and valuing the perspectives of underrepresented groups. This article describes restructuring efforts of one special education preparation program that included coursework and field-based experiences designed to enhance…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Mission Accomplished! The Development of a Competence-based E-portfolio Assessment Model (Shelley Schuurman, Scott Berlin, Jamie Langlois, and Julie Guevara); (2) The Third Rail of Assessment--Dangerous but Powerful (Dale L. Mort); (3) Video Killed the Radio…