Twelve teachers and two principals from the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union School District (Vermont) met to consider what a small rural school district can do to assess its own programs and to discuss how to go about program assessment with the goal of helping schools become effective learning organizations. The district serves about 1,800…

This module presents results of a demonstration project investigating portfolio assessment uses in adult basic education and English as a second language. It describes how to use the approach to design a portfolio assessment plan in any chosen subject area. Section I provides an overview and reviews the project framework. Section II focuses on…

This paper summarizes a study undertaken to evaluate the impact of middle-level schooling upon student achievement and to provide information useful to the improvement of early adolescent education. The study drew on the following two theoretical perspectives: (1) middle level theory, which advocates organizing students and teachers and modifying…

This report presents the findings of a collaboration between the Evaluation and Research Departments and the Arts Education Department of the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System with teachers of the district to pilot performance assessments in art programs. In an effort to accurately assess the arts, various alternative…

This collection of materials provides a rationale for including all students with disabilities in statewide assessments and offers guidance for Vermont educators implementing the Vermont Assessment Program. Three reasons for inclusion are presented and supported with statistics, excerpts from the law, and research findings. The reasons for…

The extent to which the classroom evaluation practice of secondary school teachers is of a formative nature and the effects of any formative evaluation on student learning were studied through semi-structured interviews with 54 teachers in 5 Dutch secondary schools. All taught secondary Dutch or mathematics. In addition, 557 students completed…

This module represents one of several components developed to train school personnel in the Instructional Support Team Process. Its purpose is to train school-based teams to use natural assessment and intervention techniques in building effective instructional programs for students who are academically at risk. The module is based on one form of…

Focusing on the measurements and traits used to assess program effectiveness at Wisconsin's Northcentral Technical College (NTC), this document reviews the college's value-focused effectiveness indicators and provides data on outcomes as of 1994-95. Following NTC's mission statement, the program assessment criteria developed at the college are…

A study was conducted to determine the psychometric properties and the subscales of a 67-item Assessment Practices Inventory (API) and to examine the effects of measurement training and teaching experience on teachers' perceived assessment competency. Data were collected from 311 teachers on the API. The reliability of the API was supported by a…

Information on effective policies/practices for assessing student performance in Texas' tech prep programs was gathered and disseminated during a project involving the following activities: formation of an advisory committee to oversee the data collection/analysis and product development processes; compilation/review of performance assessment…

This manual is intended to train teachers to use the Project Success Enrichment (PSE) program to teach language arts and visual art to gifted and typical elementary school students. An introduction outlines the PSE goals and provides a history of PSE. The next section discusses diagnostic and identification procedures for use in examining…

This manual provides guidance to Idaho school districts in identifying students with serious emotional disturbances (SED), as defined by federal and state laws and regulations. Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the guide describe SED in the context of various factors, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the…

This manual provides training information for implementing supported employment by using a customer-driven approach. Chapter 1, "Supported Employment: A Customer-Driven Approach" (Valerie Brooke and others), describes current best practices, a new customer-driven approach to supported employment, and the role of the employment specialist. Chapter…

A study examined the differences between 17 children with language disorders and 20 children with normal language development (ages 8-13) in the way they developed shared knowledge with an adult using an interactive communication task. The structure interaction map task involved the child describing a route through a simple schematic map to an…

This report presents a compendium of approaches to the inclusion of students with disabilities or of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in large-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or state assessment programs. Chapter 1 presents an overview and lists organizations involved in this effort. Chapters 2 and…