Our purpose was to investigate the efficacy of using reflective practice to guide our action research study of incorporating formative assessment into middle school science teaching and learning. Using participatory action research, we worked collaboratively to incorporate formative assessment into two instructional units, and then engaged in…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not elementary classroom teachers' exploration of an integrated theoretical model of formative assessment would change participants' understandings of formative assessment and whether or not participants would apply this newly-acquired knowledge to their classroom assessment practices. After…

At West Park Place Elementary, achievement results among students in special education (SPED) from 2004 through 2006 were consistently poor; barely over a quarter of SPED students were at or above standard in reading and math on the DSTP. In 2007, SPED students had the lowest reading and math DSTP performance of all thirteen suburban elementary…

On September 2, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education announced the winners of the $350 million Race to the Top Comprehensive Assessment Systems Competition: the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SMARTER). In his announcement, Secretary of Education Arne…

This case study explored multiple teachers' instructional strategies in several eleventh grade Language Arts classrooms in one successful Midwest school. A "successful" Midwest school was defined as having attained AYP at least three consecutive years. The study focused on the specific instructional strategies and activities used when…

The purpose of this study was to find out which assessment data are used by elementary principals who are currently practicing in Title One California elementary schools with populations of at least 600 students, API scores of 700 or higher, and 40% or more English Learners (ELs) to inform instructional efforts at the school site level to improve…

easyCBM[R] is an online benchmark and progress monitoring assessment system designed for use within a response to intervention framework. Educators using easyCBM[R] are often interested in using the results to predict students' state test performance. In the following technical document, we report diagnostic efficiency statistics using a sample…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide assessment guidelines which help to implement research-based education in science and technology areas, which would benefit from the quality of this type of education within this subject area. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a reflection on, and analysis of, different aspects of…

Consider the challenges facing one district: 27,000 students in 44 elementary schools in a southern California border district. Most students--72%--are classified as English language learners (ELL) as measured by the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Although 65% of the students are Hispanic/Latino and speak Spanish as a first…

Just when educators are learning more about what constitutes effective professional development, a collaborative team of education researchers and practitioners have developed, tested, and implemented a cost-effective method of measuring and reporting on the quality of teacher professional development. The teacher professional development analysis…

This paper critically reviews the empirical research on the use of rubrics at the post-secondary level, identifies gaps in the literature and proposes areas in need of research. Studies of rubrics in higher education have been undertaken in a wide range of disciplines and for multiple purposes, including increasing student achievement, improving…

This paper identifies a set of universal instructional design (UID) principles appropriate to distance education (DE) and specifically tailored to the needs of instructional designers and instructors teaching online. These principles are then used to assess the accessibility level of a sample online course and the availability of options in its…

In this article, the authors comment on the contribution of the Alcohol, Drugs and the Family research group to draw public and scientific attention to the suffering and needs of families coping with addiction problems. The article also describes the impact of the stress-strain-coping-support model and the 5-Step Method on the research,…

This article details the process of upgrading and expanding an existing academic medical library intranet to include a wiki, blog, discussion forum, and photo collection manager. The first version of the library's intranet from early 2002 was powered by ColdFusion software and existed primarily to allow staff members to author and store minutes of…

With the growth of Web 2.0 library intranets in recent years, many libraries are leaving behind legacy, first-generation intranets. As Web 2.0 intranets multiply and mature, how will traditional intranet best practices--especially in the areas of planning, implementation, and evaluation--translate into an existing Web 2.0 intranet infrastructure?…