Argues that reliance on the outcome of quantitative standardized tests to assess student performance is misplaced quest for certainty in an uncertain world. Reviews and lauds Canadian teacher-devised qualitative diagnostic tool, "Profiles of Student Behaviors," composed of 20 behavioral patterns in student knowledge, attitude, and skill.…

In early intervention, researchers often are interested in interpretation aids that can help determine the relative importance of variables when multiple regression models are used, and that facilitate deeper insight into prediction dynamics. Commonality analysis is one approach for helping researchers understand the contributions independent or…

Technology has made a significant impact on assessment, including its use to automate assignment submission. On-line assignment submission, marking, and return were introduced into a fourth-year engineering management unit for the first time, and a formal evaluation was undertaken to assess student perceptions of this new development. Nearly all…

The issue of unfairness arises in high-stakes public examinations when students choose questions from alternatives that are offered and marks on the alternatives turn out to be discrepant. This paper addresses and defines unfairness and discrepancy in the context of alternative questions in Physics Tertiary Entrance Examinations (TEE) in Western…

This guide for testing coordinators includes information regarding: (1) Idaho statewide testing (both state and federal requirements); (2) testing dates; (3) Idaho Reading indicator (IRI); (4) Direct Mathematics Assessment (DMA); (5) Direct Writing Assessment (DEA); (6) Idaho Alternative Assessment (IAA); (7) Idaho Standards Achievement Test…

Within a European context, facilitating the increased participation of marginalized groups within society has become a cornerstone of social policy. In higher education in Ireland this has generally involved the targeting for support of individuals representing groups traditionally excluded on the grounds of socio-economic status. More recently,…

Promoting the idea that teachers can make sophisticated diagnostic judgments and can identify appropriate instructional techniques, this book delineates the process of diagnostic teaching so that teachers can make such judgments and identify such techniques. The book is designed to supplement course work in the diagnosis and remediation of reading…

Since the introduction of the concept of reciprocal teaching by A. S. Palincsar and A. L. Brown in 1984, researchers have conducted a number of studies that attempted to replicate and/or extend the original one. A review was conducted of 19 studies that used reciprocal teaching to help students improve their ability to comprehend text. The review…

Instructional technology can help teachers formalize alternative methods of assessment. It allows them to record and report on student performance more fully and more dynamically. This paper discusses tools and methodologies used by a group called Teachers Using Technology to Measure Mathematics Meaningfully as they expanded their repertoire of…

This book is about the learning cycle that moves children through a scientific investigation by allowing them first to explore materials, then to construct a concept, and finally to apply this concept to new ideas. It includes integrated learning cycles and learning cycles across the disciplines, and the uses of various questioning strategies,…

Current conceptions of literacy and what being literate means are discussed, and the strengths and weaknesses of the standardized multiple-choice test as a tool for assessing literacy proficiency and a way to report learning progress are explored. The possible advantages of alternative assessment strategies are reviewed, and an assessment model is…

New methods are needed to judge the quality of alternative student assessment, methods which complement the philosophy underlying authentic assessments. This paper examines assumptions underlying validity, reliability, and objectivity, and why they are not matched to authentic assessment, concentrating on the constructivist paradigm of E. Guba and…

This research project was designed to help the faculty at a southwestern, urban elementary school better understand what parents thought about the school's alternative assessment methods and narrative reporting to communicate with parents. Assessment methods were defined as the ways teachers learn about students' understandings, and communication…

Focusing on literacy learning and instruction, the 44 papers in this yearbook highlight the increasing sense of responsibility of literacy teachers as learners themselves and to understand the nature and impact of teacher change on student learning. Papers in the yearbook include: "What Counts in Teacher Education? Dilemmas in Educating…

This report describes a program for improving students' depth of understanding through the use of alternative assessment. The targeted population consisted of students at one elementary, one junior high, and two high schools in two growing middle class communities in northern Illinois. Lack of student understanding was documented through teacher…