Contributions by California art educators in this guide outline issues underlying performance assessment and provide examples of assessment for the arts from kindergarten through grade 12. Chapter 1 introduces art as basic to education and presents the potential of art education for all students. Chapter 2 examines performance assessment by giving…

This collection of examples of authentic assessments has been compiled to provide a sampling of the many new strategies for evaluating student work and learning that are being developed and used in schools around the country. These strategies are called "authentic" because they require that students demonstrate what they can do as…

A study of fourth- and fifth-grade students who were taught science in Spanish as a second language is reported. The primary issues studied were: (1) the role of first-language skills in learning science in a second language, and (2) whether hands-on instruction, seen as effective by many for science teaching, is appropriate for…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated factors that contribute to the engagement of students. Based on the theoretical model of Newmann, Wehlage, and Lamborn (1992), the study examined the effect of instructional approaches of teachers, contextual features of classrooms, and attributes of student experience on students'…

Students must learn how to empower themselves and how to empower others if they are to survive in modern organizations (corporate, educational, and governmental). Traditional bureaucratic pedagogies, to which many faculty are accustomed, neither teach nor develop these skills. Furthermore, the use of bureaucratic pedagogies limits student…

Focusing on specific and practical aspects of assessment and evaluation in elementary classrooms, this book is not only about portfolios, but about collecting and recording information from multiple sources on an ongoing basis. Noting that making forms, especially on the computer, is very time consuming, the book includes over 120 reproducible…

Five teams of teacher-researchers, 15 teachers in all, representing three Wyoming school districts and Casper College conducted classroom-based investigations and wrote about their inquiries. These teachers of prekindergarten through college collaborated to examine performance based assessment questions with an overall theme of improving science…

There is increasing pressure on teachers in higher education to provide assessment systems that are fair, valid, reliable, efficient, and effective. Funding bodies, students themselves, and public opinion have higher expectations, and there is a new emphasis on competence-based systems. Growing numbers of students and financial constraints make…

The Hawaii Learning Project (HALP) has produced an Algebra I curriculum that stresses student learning through problem solving, communication, connections, development over time, and challenging tasks. The HALP curriculum is used by more than 16,000 students in 13 states. Scores on standardized algebra tests for HALP graduates have been about the…

This 42-item annotated bibliography provides information on some of the assessments currently available to assess communication competence. In addition to actual assessment instruments, the bibliography also includes related articles that discuss the oral communication skills that should be assessed, while other articles provide research results…

The goal of this revised edition is to describe and illustrate the process of implementing ecological assessment in classrooms. The focus is on the process of change. Teachers who assess ecologically create classroom environments that are small ecosystems representative of the larger literacy system outside the classroom. New developments in…

This study investigated three factors that may contribute to the large variation in student performance across open-ended measures. These factors are content domain, format (whether the task required only pencil and paper or involved a hands-on manipulation of equipment), and level of inquiry (whether the task guided the student toward the…

This handbook provides teachers and administrators with strategies to construct, adapt, and use rubrics. A rubric is defined as a tool for assessing instruction and performance according to predetermined expectations and criteria. The chapters in this text contain guidance on formulating, applying, and reviewing the pros and cons of this form of…

This study involves action research to explore the effectiveness of the Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) technique in diagnosing students' understanding of science and identifying their levels of achievement. A multidimensional interpretive framework is used to interpret students' understanding of science. The research methodology incorporated…

The logic and methodology applied in a management science approach to performance and staff utilization in the Client Benefits (CBA) and Community Service (CSA) divisions of the Suffolk County (New York) Department of Social Services (SCDSS) are described. Using a blend of classical organization theory and management science techniques, the CBA…