This article reports findings from an action research project investigating the impact creating writing portfolios has on preservice teachers' understanding of writing portfolio assessment. Participants included 92 preservice teachers enrolled across four different sections of an introductory literacy class. Data sources included: preservice…

Through examination of 613 students' narratives about self-selected important decisions, I investigated the student and situation characteristics related to provocation and use of self authored ways of knowing. The findings gesture toward both particular skills students may need to develop in order to self-author, as well as suggest that movement…

In 1998, California state legislation called for significant reform in the preparation of teachers. As a result, institutions of higher learning must now conduct a formal performance-based assessment. All teacher candidates must participate in the assessment at the end of the program for receipt of the preliminary teaching credential. The…

The pressure on academic institutions to develop sustainable programs is felt both internally and externally. Owing to shrinking operating budgets, universities will only support programs that relate directly to their mission and that are financially viable. External expectations come from funding agencies that typically require institutions to be…

In this case study, the aim was to implement project-based learning by utilizing e-portfolio assessment in a small-scale classroom (N = 8). The compulsory Design, Development, and Evaluation of Educational Software course in the curriculum of the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology was selected due to its strong…

This article provides an overview of the work carried out over the period of one year with a group of 10th grade students in a Portuguese high school. It argues that by using portfolios in EFL classrooms, the teacher cannot only diagnose the learners' skills and competences, but also become aware of their preferences, styles, dispositions, and…

Lucie, a Grade Two classroom teacher, and Kate, a university professor, engaged in an action research study that linked a trait-based writing instruction approach with a genre-focused instruction approach. To capture the experience, fieldnote observations, interviews and samples of students' work were collected. Lucie recognized the need to…

The use of peers in the evaluation of teaching is part of a larger trend in postsecondary education toward a more systematic assessment of classroom performance. Many scholars believe that certain aspects of teaching can be assessed only by classroom observation. This study examines the use that peer reviewers make of teaching products, especially…

This study examines the relationship between supervisor evaluation of classroom performance and exit portfolio ratings of candidates enrolled in the Professional Immersion Master of Arts in Teaching Program, a partnership between Johns Hopkins University and Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. This graduate-level teacher preparation…

This action-research paper focuses on the eorts of faculty to introduce a standards-based electronic portfolio (e-folio) requirement to aspiring educational administrators at a private university in New York over a 24 month period. The e-folio initiative was established for multiple reasons, including illustration of students' progress throughout…

Written in a reader-friendly style for busy faculty members and school administrators with little or no prior knowledge of statistics, this comprehensive model is designed to create fair, valid, and reliable assessments of teacher knowledge and skills. Evaluation experts Judy Wilkerson and Steve Lang provide detailed guidance for the complete…

This study chronicles a 2-year school wide portfolio initiative in a British elementary school, teacher resistance to the initiative, and factors that contributed to acceptance of the portfolio initiative. Critical components to teacher engagement in this context included teacher ownership of the process and product, a child-centred focus to the…

Background: Coordinated school health programs (CSHP) frequently struggle with how to adequately evaluate implementation. The CSHP framework provides flexibility in how it is implemented; however, this flexibility makes it a challenge to effectively evaluate. Portfolios have been used as a technique for evaluating progress and achievement. This…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program for improving motivation to learn among third grade/Chapter 1 reading students in a growing rural community located in northern Illinois. The problem of low motivation was documented by systematic classroom observations, teacher interviews, and student surveys. Analysis of probable cause data…

Eduardo Galeano's "Memory of Fire: Genesis" raises a number of questions concerning the "politics of location," a term that may be defined as the intersections, tensions, and complications that people of color bring to space and what space means in terms of hierarchies and power, racial and gender stratifications. Text can also…