The paper examines the breadth and quality of formative assessment implementation of 202 mathematics and science teachers who participated in a two-year, school-based professional development programme that focused on formative assessment. Results are triangulated using three sources of data: baseline and end-of-Year 2 data from an annual survey,…

Two universities and their prospective partnership schools collected data to help ascertain the perceived readiness of school-university Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships. The measurement tool, ''The Professional Development School Exploration and Assessment'' (PDSEA) includes a five-step process that makes use of survey and focus…

This exploratory study of elementary school science examines questions central to policy, practice and research on formative assessment: What is the quality of teachers' content-pedagogical and assessment knowledge? What is the relationship between teacher knowledge and assessment practice? What is the relationship between teacher knowledge,…

Act, Sing, Play (ASP) offered music and drama tuition to Year 2 pupils. The aim of the programme was to evaluate whether music workshops had a bigger impact than drama workshops in terms of pupils' maths and literacy attainment. The evaluation was based on the hypothesis that participation in high-quality music instruction promotes educational…

More than 150 years ago Horace Mann persuasively reasoned that education is the "balance wheel" of the social structure. He argued that education should be free and universal. While much progress has been made in establishing a universal education system since Mann spoke those words, substantial disparities in educational resources,…

We report on the use of Brookfield's (1995) formative assessment tool, the "Critical Incident Questionnaire" (CIQ) to help students and teachers identify and discuss key factors affecting learning. We offer insight into two major areas: (1) testing and adapting the existing tool to improve teaching and learning; and (2) identifying…

"No Child Left Behind" has highlighted the need for new types of assessments that not only provide high-quality evidence about what students know and can do, but also help to move learning forward. This paper describes a linked set of formative and summative reading assessments designed to address the tradeoffs inherent in these two…

The New Jersey Department of Education supports all districts with a tool kit of valuable resources for planning and creating collaborative learning structures that focus on getting results for all students. This tool kit was the basis for the creation of Learning Forward's "Becoming a Learning School" (2009). The tool kit helps…

In the early 2000s, Minnetonka High School decided that it needed to develop a more consistent, transparent system of grading. The school focused its grading reform efforts on one principle: Grades should reflect only what a student knows and is able to do. As the school staff analyzed their policies and practices, they discovered many practices…

This paper focuses on an unceremonious type of formative assessment--"informal formative assessment"--in which much of what teachers and students do in the classroom can be described as potential assessments that can provide evidence about the students' level of understanding. More specifically, the paper focuses on assessment conversations, or…

Understanding the nature of science (NOS)--what science is and how it works, the assumptions that underlie scientific knowledge, how scientists function as a social group, and how society impacts and reacts to science--is prominent in science education reform documents (Rutherford and Ahlgren 1990; AAAS 1993; McComas and Olson 1998; NRC 1996; AAAS…

Young people playing "Halo" or "World of Warcraft" might not realize it, but they are working on the prototypes for a future generation of student tests. The increasing popularity of video and computer games may cause concern among parents, who fear their children are spending too much time on them. However, educators and researchers increasingly…

This article describes the role of language and literacy assessment in Response to Intervention, the assessment requirements and intent of RTI legislation, and the assessment principle in the International Reading Association's guiding principles on RTI. It outlines the multiple purposes of assessment required for a coherent RTI system, including…

Students are increasingly subject to a series of learning pressures that prevent effective engagement in assessment. Thus, the aim of this study was to create a multi-faceted formative assessment approach that better enabled students to engage in the assessment process. A formative assessment approach, consisting of six key initiatives, is…

The Comprehensive English Course (CEC) plays a vital role in English language learning for college students in China. However, students' motivation for this course is low due to the fact that they are bored with the instructivist-based teaching environment. This paper first reviews the theories of Constructivism, and then demonstrates how to apply…