This article discusses the use of performance task assessments by Project STAR for identifying students for academically gifted programs in grades 3-6. A field test of the performance assessment tasks resulted in finding an additional group of students who were 12 percent African American and 14 percent low-income children. (Contains references.)…

Recognizes that as the support for standards-based music education strengthens, authentic assessment that measures specific content within the standards will also gain status. Offers examples of music teachers implementing authentic assessment within their classrooms, such as rubrics and student self-assessment. Identifies sample assessment…

Highlights a performance assessment process used by one teacher with her second and third grade students, in which teacher and students work together to generate specific performance standards for a variety of reading and writing tasks. Looks at setting the stage; teacher-student collaboration in structured rubric development; expanding the…

Explores the portfolio process as an evaluation tool for authentic assessment of writing. Discusses (1) current literature related to use of portfolios; (2) the critical elements of the portfolio process; (3) their relationship to the authentic assessment of writing; and (4) effective ways of implementing individual educational portfolios for…

Discusses online teaching and the learning process. Topics include distance education and the teacher's role; creating a detailed class syllabus; moderating online discussions; authentic assessment; and cultivating critical thinking skills. Includes a pre-discussion paper and post-discussion summary. (LRW)

Explores the procedures that were used to assess student learning in a seventh-grade social studies class, with its instructional focus on drama, as the students studied ancient world history. Examines the meanings students constructed when learning social studies through drama. (CMK)

Poster presentations are one way scientists present their latest research findings at professional meetings. This format also works well in the classroom and gives students the opportunity to communicate the results of their experiments (perhaps the most critical portion of their studies). In a performance-based task such as a poster session,…

This article describes an alternative way of testing--a performance assessment--that is different both in process and goals from typical tests, but closer to what teachers believe assessment should be. Teachers who have helped to create, refine, and use this new generation of tests find them valuable because they measure the skills and concepts…

This article describes an innovative pedagogical strategy, the use of teaching portfolios in peer interviews. It will first describe the process designed to prepare preservice teachers to demonstrate professional competence through the use of a standards-based working portfolio developed during a reading practicum. Then it will report on…

A model incorporating prerequisite mathematics performance and other variables deemed to be associated with learning elementary statistics (ES) is developed. The relationship between ES performance and the explanatory variables is well represented by the logistics form. Aptitude, effort and motivation are the only significant explanatory variables…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of various cognitive abilities and aspects of math performance with computational estimation skill among third graders. Students (n=315) were assessed on language, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, processing speed, long-term memory, working memory, inattentive behavior, basic reading…

The attentional blink refers to the finding that the 2nd of 2 targets embedded in a stream of rapidly presented distractors is often missed. Whereas most theories of the attentional blink focus on limited-capacity processes that occur after target selection, the present work investigates the selection process itself. Identifying a target letter…

This paper reports on research into a national education program within one of Australia's largest trade unions. The program was designed to assist the union's staff and elected officials respond to the rapidly changing industrial and political conditions in the manufacturing sector. It is ambitious in scope comprising sixteen modules that range…

Age-related changes in mental flexibility, in the form of task switching, were assessed in 292 children (58-156 months old). Task switching was examined with a new task for young children, the Switch Task for Children (STC). The STC consists of two easy, comparable games and does not require reading skills, which makes it suitable for children…

In this study, we examined the use of cognitive tools provided in a problem-based hypermedia learning environment for sixth graders. Purposes were to understand how the built-in tools were used, and if tool use was associated with different problem-solving stages. Results showed that tools supporting cognitive processing and sharing cognitive load…