This article articulates a framework for examining the quality of formative assessment practice and provides empirical evidence in support of one of its components. Based on a study of middle school science, the study examines the accuracy of teachers' judgments of students' understanding and the relationship of such accuracy to middle school …

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

To promote student engagement, professors must actively seek to create the conditions that foster engagement. Chickering and Gamson (1987) suggest that good practices in undergraduate education are ones that: encourage student-faculty contact, develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, encourage active learning, provide students with…

The Alliance of Quality Schools is a research-based, learner-verified, academic, and behavioral intervention model involving reading, spelling, writing, and mathematics. The alliance provides coordination and support to students and fosters academic success as well as social skills, self-esteem, and positive attitudes toward school. This report…

Formative teacher evaluation promotes teacher growth by illuminating some areas of difficulty and creating a viable course for change. The goal is to help teachers become more effective. Since 1991, the SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) has supported selected school systems in their attempts to design and implement formative…

This document from Pima Community College in Arizona provides an overview of the processes used to evaluate the college's board of governors, chancellor, administrators, faculty, and classified staff. Efforts to streamline and strengthen the processes for faculty and administrator evaluation are also highlighted. Sections focusing on each…

This report addresses the major performance and management challenges that have limited the effectiveness of the Department of Education in carrying out its mission. The booklet addresses corrective actions that Education has taken or initiated on these challenges--including a number of management initiatives to improve controls over the…

Findings of a study that evaluated the effectiveness of the Minnesota Education Effectiveness Program (MEEP) are presented in this report. MEEP is a school-based program designed to improve the Minnesota educational system and is facilitated through ongoing staff development processes. The participating schools are supported by a statewide network…

This discussion of uses for audit trails in instructional research begins by pointing out that interactive media provide the learner with the opportunity to shape the program, and consequently, the learning experience. The paper focuses on one of the new questions for instructional designers that have come with the advent of these technologies,…

The report summarized a formative evaluation of the Alberta (Canada) School for the Deaf (ASD). Data were collected via observations by 12 consultants; interviews; and questionnaires completed by parents, teachers, students, and administrators. The evaluation was designed to focus on such aspects as instruction (including curriculum) and total…

Several tools for clarifying program evaluation roles and an outline of educational program components and evaluative questions are presented. Available from: Extension Division, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N OWO. (Author/MW)

This report describes Earth Lab, a project which is demonstrating new ways of using computers for upper-elementary and middle-school science instruction, and finding ways to integrate local-area and telecommunications networks. The discussion covers software, classroom activities, formative research on communications networks, and integration of…

A new productivity measurement system was developed for five sections in maintenance and supply at an operational Air Force base. The productivity measures derived from the system were used as a basis for monthly feedback to the units for a period of five months. Afterward, goal setting was added to the feedback for five months. Finally,…

As computers are acquired in greater numbers in schools, their impact on the social organization of instruction increasingly becomes an issue for research. Developments in the cognitive science of instruction, drawing on sociohistorical theory, provide researchers with an appropriate theoretical approach to cultural tools and cognitive change,…

Linking Outcomes to Organizational Planning (LOOP) was initiated during the 1984-85 school year in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. LOOP was designed to ensure that evaluation, research, and informal findings became part of the instructional planning loop; to provide information to the Superintendent on progress toward priorities…