This study investigated the usefulness of the many-facet Rasch model (MFRM) in evaluating the quality of performance related to PowerPoint presentations in higher education. The Rasch Model utilizes item response theory stating that the probability of a correct response to a test item/task depends largely on a single parameter, the ability of the…

This article addresses the dilemma of promoting critical pedagogy within portfolio assessment, which has been implemented in many teacher education programs to meet state and national mandates for performance-based assessment. It explores how one teacher educator works to move portfolio assessment to a level of critical self-reflection that…

Despite the current interest in many countries in assessing the principal's performance, stemming from the greater attention to educational reform and accountability, the empirical study of principal's appraisal has been slow to develop. This article was designed to fill partially this gap. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews of eight…

This article describes how The Language Center at the Espirito Santo Federal University changed from using traditional pencil-andpaper tests to performance testing, based on authentic tasks. The change was prompted because people thought that their testing did not reflect a communicative approach to language teaching. The Assessment Project lasted…

As a form of performance monitoring, electronic performance monitoring (EPM) offers the opportunity for unobtrusive and continuous performance data gathering. These strengths can also make EPM stressful and threatening. Many features of performance evaluation systems, including the organizational purposes for which they are used, can affect…

Tactical approaches to teaching are, arguably, still under-utilized in physical education settings, and this may be due to the lack of pertinent assessment materials. The purpose of this article is to present a generic invasion-game unit and to link it to a variety of assessment materials using three tactical components from the Game Performance…

Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) is a common technique used to record employee performance. EPM may include counting computer keystrokes, monitoring employees' phone calls or internet activity, or documenting time spent on work activities. Despite EPM's prevalence, no studies have examined how this management tool affects older workers--a…

Maxine Greene states that the aesthetic experience is "brought into being by encounters with works of art" and "a conscious participation in a work, a going-out energy, an ability to notice what is there to be noticed". One of the goals of the aesthetic educational process is to engage teachers in a work of art, linking it and other human…

This article addresses a 2006 article by Hojnoski, Morrison, Brown, and Matthews on the use of performance-based measurement among school-based practitioners. Their results suggest that many of their survey respondents favor the use of this form of measurement. This line of research is important and addresses an important issue in current clinical…

It is hard to address the needs of the estimated three million gifted middle level students who attend school in the United States (Clarenbach, 2007), and No Child Left Behind has made it even harder because school performance is determined by success on standardized tests--which often means that low performance is severely penalized and high-end…

The effects of digital video frame rate and size on American Sign Language (ASL) learner comprehension were investigated. Fifty-one students were randomly assigned to one of three video-size treatment groups: 480x360, 320x240, and 240x180 pixels. Within each treatment, three 30-second videos of signed narratives at frame rates of 6, 12, and 18…

This case study reports on the use of Web-based research portfolios in an information literacy course. It offers a model for teaching research skills in a structured and incremental way that can promote student centered learning and facilitate authentic assessment.

Authentic assessment is a growing alternative to conventional testing. This research-to-practice article describes a framework for implementing authentic assessment. The R-E-A-L framework shows how roles, equipment, assessment tools, and location can be incorporated into early childhood practices.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of classroom performance assessment on the EFL students' basic and inferential reading skills. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was employed in the study. The subjects of the study consisted of 64 first-year secondary school students in Menouf Secondary School for Boys at Menoufya…

This document is one of eight reports prepared to support the development of a new learning system, a development effort that is the first step in a major initiative undertaken by the Stupski Foundation. This report synthesizes recent research and theoretical literature on using best practices related to formative assessment to support urban…