Whether questions embedded in expository text could improve the correspondence between adult readers' subjective assessments of test readiness and their objective test performance (prediction calibration) was studied with 168 undergraduates. In order to minimize the confounding effects of prior knowledge, the subjects were asked to read a text…

The Advisory Committee on Federal Workforce Quality Assessment was chartered to examine various work force quality assessment efforts in the federal government and provide advice on their adequacy and suggestions on their improvement or expansion. Objective data in recent research suggested that a universal decline in work force quality might not…

This Summary Guide to the third Annual Report of the National Education Goals Panel continues the commitment of the Panel to let the American people know the results being achieved in education. Facts about performance are presented, with tangible guidance about what each citizen can do to make the Goals a reality. The National Education Goals…

An analysis was made of the methods being used to assess the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. Although no single assessment plan has been developed, various activities are aimed at studying both the implementation and the impact of the law. Four assessment efforts are described as conducted by the following groups: (1) the Office of…

Describing the various forms evaluation can take, this book delineates problems in evaluating writing faculty and sets the stage for reconsidering the entire process to produce a fair, equitable, and appropriate system. The book discusses evaluation through real-life examples: evaluation of writing faculty by literature faculty, student…

It is important to develop instructional sequences that build on students' current understandings and support shifts in their current ways of thinking. As part of the pilot work for a project on mathematics teaching, classroom performance assessments were conducted to obtain baseline data on students' current statistical understandings. The…

This study examined the effects of self-evaluation on student performance in mathematics. Grade 5 and 6 students (N=300) were randomly assigned in intact classes to treatment and control groups. In both conditions a 2-week cooperative learning unit on probability was implemented. In the treatment condition, students received training in…

This paper examines whether graduate record examination (GRE) scores are a legitimate assessment tool for measuring institutional accountability and effectiveness that is, how well its graduates will do after having attended the institution for four or more years. Following a discussion of the various pros and cons of using the GRE as an…

This paper examines the role played by an office of institutional research in developing a new student evaluation of teaching protocol. At Southeastern Louisiana University, a comprehensive 4-year public institution, the administration appointed a campus-wide committee to study the student evaluations of teaching and to make recommendations for…

This guide is designed to help teachers create test items that measure a variety of higher level thinking abilities. Part One, "Foundations for Item Writing," provides a context for item writing. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book and defines basic concepts, principles, and terminology. Chapter 2 integrates research literature to…

This book explores ways to design courses and units to emphasize understanding and uncoverage rather than coverage, offering practical solutions for teacher-designers. It focuses on a different use for performance assessment, concluding that performance is the key to assessing understanding. The book analyzes the logic of backward design as an…

One of the biggest problems students face in team projects is social loafing, a situation in which students may view team projects as a free ride. Social loafers let others do the work, knowing that the professor will only grade the completed project. This research examined the performance of students grading other student team members on a group…

To measure the extent of student opportunities to learn relative to educational reform goals, the Colorado Educational Policy Consortium at the University of Colorado-Denver designed and administered teacher and student surveys about instructional and assessment-related processes statewide. This study uses data from the 1997 teacher survey to…

This study took an in-depth, global look at the entirety of the teaching practices of six elementary school teachers in Canada who are known to be highly motivating instructors. The study investigated the interaction between teaching practices and the change in elementary-school student motivation. Three teachers were chosen for their reputation…

Using data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES:96), this issue brief looks at the involvement of nonresident fathers in terms of how such involvement affects student performance in grades K-12. In the NHES, resident parents reported on whether nonresident parents who had had contact with their children in the past year had…