This paper presents a profile of North Carolina's Star Rated License System prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4)…

This paper presents a profile of Virginia's Star Quality Initiative prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4) Indicators…

This paper presents a profile of Ohio's Step Up to Quality prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4) Indicators for Family…

Computer aided assessment (CAA) tools are more and more widely adopted in academic environments mixed to other assessment means. In this article, we present a CAA Web application, named eWorkbook, which can be used for evaluating learner's knowledge by creating (the tutor) and taking (the learner) on-line tests based on multiple choice, multiple…

The evaluation examined issues related to: (1) Rationale and Relevance; (2) Implementation; and (3) Success. In addition, the interim evaluation was intended to: (1) Determine whether sufficient data was being collected to inform the summative evaluation and identify opportunities for improvement to fill any potential gaps; (2) Assess whether the…

This guide was produced to help schools and school districts reduce the amount of waste they generate It shows how to start a waste reduction program or expand an existing one. The booklet shows how such programs can benefit schools, communities, and the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. Each section--schools, school…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This testimony describes: (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic…

Current educational policy highlights the important role that assessment can play in improving education. State standards and the assessments that are aligned with them establish targets for learning and promote school accountability for helping all students succeed; at the same time, feedback from assessment results is expected to provide …

Grading, feedback, and reporting of student achievement are key elements that support learning. This article reports an interview study on a range of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers' classroom assessment practices at the tertiary level in Canada, Hong Kong, and China. The interviews focused on teachers' use of marking…

It is argued that assessment of student writing can be enhanced by adoption of a functional approach to linguistic analysis; through their research, functional grammarians have provided language teachers with criteria for evaluating the extent to which learners have gained control of the grammatical and discourse features of a variety of…

Articles related to assessment in the field of reading are presented to provide ideas for those studying reading and reading assessment. There are two sections to the bibliography: the articles themselves and an index. Many of the entries describe informal assessments and are intended mainly for classroom use. The 124 articles are listed in…

Eighteen key individuals from the business, labor, and training sectors and other organizations concerned with the purchase of private training programs were consulted in an effort to determine the role of Canada's federal government and New Brunswick's provincial government in quality assurance for consumers of private training programs. There…

In many schools and districts, teacher evaluation is poorly conducted, or even disparaged or ignored altogether. This handbook advocates a new approach to teacher evaluation--a cooperative effort undertaken by a group of professionals. Evaluation can reassure teachers that they are doing good and valued jobs, give security and status to…

This book presents an instructional improvement system based on critical instructional factors identified by research. Teaching activities are provided for each of four components of effective teaching--planning, managing, delivering, and evaluating instruction. For each component, several teaching principles are identified and explained, and for…

With the increase in workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy education programs, there is a need to assess whether the attention given to improving basic skills and English language proficiency has made a change in the participant and in the workplace. Such evaluations often use both qualitative and quantitative measures of program…