Is there an achievement gap for online reading ability based on income inequality that is separate from the achievement gap in traditional, offline reading? This possibility was examined between students in two pseudonymous school districts: West Town (economically advantaged) and East Town (economically challenged; N = 256). Performance-based…

To determine whether formative writing assessments that are directly tied to everyday classroom teaching and learning enhance students' writing performance, we conducted a meta-analysis of true and quasi-experiments conducted with students in grades 1 to 8. We found that feedback to students about writing from adults, peers, self, and computers…

Assessments matter in education. Testing is nothing new; tests have been around as long as school itself. However, over the last 15 years, state assessments have grown to be an increasingly central, and often controversial, part of schooling. As states raise their standards, it is more important than ever to ask: What is a high-quality assessment?…

The main aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the effect of intrinsic motivation on affect, subjective evaluation, and the creative process of young artists. Relations between motivation, affect, and evaluation were treated as a dynamic process and measured several times. The unique contribution of this study is that it…

Students in college make daily choices about how to use their independent study time, including choices about allocation of attention. Based on theoretical considerations and clinical studies, attention and the dividing of attention through multitasking is thought to have a relationship to performance levels. Research is only beginning to explore,…

This study investigates the effects of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH), known as an argumentation-based science inquiry approach, on Grade 9 students' performance on a post-test in relation to their academic achievement levels. Four intact classes taught by 2 chemistry teachers from a Turkish public high school were selected for the study; one…

This paper describes a study that evaluates fifteen-year-old Chilean students Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. The paper presents an operational definition of ICT skills, an instrument measuring these skills as well as the students' results in the test. The definition of ICT skills used considers Chile's curricular framework,…

A primary difficulty with music performance assessment is managing its subjective nature. To help improve objectivity, rubrics can be used to develop a set of guidelines for clearly assessing student performance. Moreover, rubrics serve as documentation for student achievement that provides music teachers with a written form of accountability.…

The implementation of teaching performance assessments has prompted a range of concerns. Some educators question whether these assessments provide information beyond what university supervisors gain through their formative evaluations and classroom observations of candidates. This research examines the relationship between supervisors' predictions…

Higher education is being reshaped little by little every day. Slowly but surely, from the smallest community colleges to the teaching institutions to the most prestigious research universities, a new set of key performance indicators (KPIs) is transforming what excellence means in higher education. For developed and emerging market nations…

Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single unified school district consisting of grades Kindergarten through 12. Its 27 Elementary Schools, 8 Middle Schools, 5 High Schools, and an alternative school serve over 31,000 students, and is managed by the 11-member Guam Education Board (GEB). Despite the operational and financial challenges the…

As online and blended learning has become common place educational strategy in higher education, educators need to reconceptualise fundamental issues of teaching, learning and assessment in non traditional spaces. These issues include concepts such as validity and reliability of assessment in online environments in relation to serving the intended…

Assessment for Learning (AfL) has gained increasing international prominence in both policy and practice but some of its proliferation, notably the national strategy in England, has been accompanied by distortion of essential features. This paper presents an understanding of authentic (in the sense of genuine) AfL informed by literature and…

This paper presents and discusses quantitative recall data from a longitudinal study that investigated the effects of Dynamic Assessment (DA) on diagnosing and promoting listening comprehension in French as a second language. We first define the theoretical concept of DA based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, which integrates mediation…

The assessment of literacy and numeracy skills of students as they enter school for the first time is not yet established nation-wide in Australia. However, a large proportion of primary schools have chosen to assess their starting students on the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools-Baseline Assessment (PIPS-BLA). This series of three…