College instruction appears to be facing a change in rules, paralleling and influenced by such "megatrends" as Total Quality Management, interest in tapping intrinsic motivation, service learning, and authentic assessment. External pressure for educational excellence, accountability, improved community, self-fulfillment, and access to information…

Discusses issues related to standardized testing and a national art curriculum. Maintains that cultural diversity among students makes valid and fair assessment difficult. Argues that teachers should be trained in the use of authentic assessment methods. (CFR)

This article reports on two studies that were conducted to determine whether (a) total enterprise simulations are suitable for assessing business skills and (b) the tournament concept can be effectively applied to such simulations. The first study involved 141 senior business students; the second, 74. The results are consistently favorable on both…

This study investigated the performance of 13 graduate students' collaborative efforts toward a group research project in an Instructional Analysis, Design, and Evaluation online course. Gaps between course expectations from the instructor and student collaborative performance were identified through the review of the team agreement, the use of…

In 2003 the first nationally-comparable science assessment was designed, developed and carried out under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). In 2006 a second science assessment was conducted and, for the first time nationally, the…

The General Accounting Office (GAO), at the request of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education, conducted studies on the extent and cost of testing in the United States, the experience of Canada in testing, and initial efforts to set standards for judging student performance on…

For the past five years, Vermont has been developing an innovative statewide assessment system in which portfolios of student work in mathematics and writing are a key element. The use of mathematics portfolios, particularly in elementary school, is a novel aspect of the assessment system. This study examines the elementary school mathematics…

This report describes a series of curricular modifications made in an effort to increase students' ability to self-assess and set goals. The targeted population consisted of grade school students in kindergarten and grades one and five in one parochial and one public school in northern Illinois with populations of 288 and 367 students,…

The GALAXY Language Arts Demonstration Program is a package of integrated curricular and instructional approaches that features the organization of instruction around themes presented through television broadcasts, children's literature, classroom activities, and the use of interactive technology. During the GALAXY Project demonstration phase for…

This paper documents student, teacher, and administrator attitudes toward the initiation of performance-based tests on a statewide level in Mississippi. The initial study surveyed approximately 620 test participants in grades 1 through 10 during the period between the fall test administration and the receipt of the test results in January. The…

This study explored fourth-grade teachers' understanding of mathematical problem solving, an aspect of the Vermont portfolio assessment program that has been largely ignored. Teachers' conceptions of problem solving, their knowledge of problem-solving strategies, their selection and evaluation of problem-solving tasks, and their instructional…

In April 1991, members of the Kentucky Educational Research Association (KERA), held a conference to discuss performance assessment and its use in Kentucky schools. The following papers from the conference are included: (1) "Our Conference and the Performance Assessment Committee" (S. Kifer); (2) "Performance Assessment: A National…

This document offers many of the insights and comments of Maryland elementary school teachers who scored the 1992 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests. The MSPAP covers reading, writing, social studies, mathematics, and science and is administered to students in grades 3, 5, and 8. The document contains the teachers' most…

This document offers many of the insights and comments of Maryland elementary school teachers who scored the 1993 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests. The MSPAP covers reading, writing, social studies, mathematics, and science and is administered to Maryland students in grades 3, 5, and 8. Comments and observations are…

The work of the Assessment Development Laboratory (ADL) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in developing an assessment for identifying accomplished teachers of English language arts to young adolescents (aged 11 to 15 years) for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is reviewed. The assessment is meant to…