For many years the need to educate and support our teachers to implement science and mathematics education has been ongoing throughout the world (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; Mundry et al., 2009). In more recent years, this call has extended to include teaching through integrated science, technology,…

In this article, we describe the results of a formative evaluation of a coaching model designed to support recipients of funding through the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative. Results indicate that CYFAR coaches draw from a variety of types of coaching and that CYFAR principle investigators (PIs) are generally satisfied with…

Digital tools are making it easier than ever for teachers to gather and analyze formative data. Paper exit slips can take a classroom teacher upward of an hour to sort and graph after just one day of classes. But now, that same teacher can pose a question out loud to the class and ask students to type answers on their mobile phones and hit send.…

At the same time that creativity, play, and inquiry are receiving special focus in academic, professional, and educational settings, mandated assessments have never been more prominent, despite public debates that question the value of such testing. In the context of these apparently contradictory developments in literacy education, as a…

"Mechanics" is a branch of engineering and physics that deals with forces and motion, and its fundamental principles apply to all objects, whether a bouncing ball, flowing stream, bicycle, or the human body. The field of "biomechanics" applies mechanics concepts specifically to the bodies of humans (and other animals).…

e-Portfolios are a form of authentic assessment with formative functions that include showcasing and sharing learning artifacts, documenting reflective learning processes, connecting learning across various stages and enabling frequent feedback for improvements. This paper examines how e-portfolios take up these formative roles to support…

What should activist-scholars teach in the social problems classroom? In this conversation, I challenge the assertion that advancing a sociology of social problems is an overly academic enterprise of little use to students and other publics. I introduce the potential of a pedagogical framework for promoting social problems literacy: a set of…

The use of focus groups to formatively evaluate community-based curricula after development and before pilot testing is not highlighted in the literature. In the study discussed in this article, research with four focus groups, composed of 46 women aged 65 years and older and belonging to eight South Carolina Family and Community Leaders clubs,…

The study includes two experiments to analyse the effects of automatic formative feedback designed to promote the transfer of self-regulation of strategic decisions in task-oriented reading (e.g. answering questions from an available text). Secondary-school students read and answered multiple-choice comprehension questions from two texts having…

This paper examines the impact of a novel assessment technique that has been used to improve the feedback given to second year Computer Science students at the University of Nottingham. Criteria for effective, high quality feedback are discussed. An automated marking system (The Marker's Apprentice--TMA) produces instant feedback in synergy with…

The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project is a three-year project based at Bath Spa University and funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT). It aims to develop support for a valid, reliable and manageable system of science assessment that will have a positive impact on children's learning. In this article, the author…

This design research type development study aims at producing a set of PISA-like mathematics task which is valid and practical as well as has the potential effects. Then, activation of fundamental mathematical capabilities underlying mathematical process related to the mathematical literacy as the main potential effect of the developed PISA-like…

Because of the gross difficulties in measuring the societal impact of academic research, qualitative approaches have been developed in the last decade mostly based on forms of interaction between university and other societal stakeholders. In this paper, we suggest a framework for qualitative analysis based on the distinction between three…

Promoting students' conceptual understanding and academic language development is a primary goal of instructors in all subject areas. These goals, however, are sometimes hindered by the way students' learning is assessed. In many college-level courses, knowledge-level tests that assess concrete thinking associated with superficial approaches to…

The international agenda for assessment continues to convey a growing interest in assessment for learning (AfL) as a tool to support learning and enhance teaching. Complementing this, the recent literature on assessment in physical education acknowledges the need for physical educators to integrate AfL into their teaching and assessment practice…