The use of portfolios and rubrics in assessment developed in part as a reaction to limitations of standardized tests for student evaluation. Portfolios relate directly to what students are learning, but there are many problems in evaluating their contents. These center on: (1) time involved in scoring; (2) lack of validity statistics; (3) relative…

This book is designed to help teachers: clarify the targets of instruction, especially for hard-to-define problem solving; provide valid and reliable assessment of student learning; and improve student motivation and achievement by helping students understand the nature of quality for performances and products. Each chapter is framed by an…

Explains the rubrics the author has developed to assure some degree of consistency in grading among instructors and teaching assistants in various sections of the same writing course. Finds these rubrics particularly useful for evaluating individual student performance in group projects. (SG)

Provides advice on designing scoring rubrics, rating scales as opposed to checklists, for use with performance assessments. Discusses holistic and analytic rubrics, and lists the steps in rubric development. (SLD)

Describes a way to assign points to the problem-solving process. Provides a rubric-scoring example. (ASK)

School boards can learn some lessons from effective teacher evaluation and from teachers' judgment of student performance. Under a "rubric" approach, the board determines specific district goals and bases the superintendent's evaluation on whether he or she is leading the system in that direction. Board feedback is essential. (MLH)

Addresses one specific method of authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, by applying this method in two case studies assessing learning of instructional technology. Explains the differences between process portfolios and product portfolios, explains scoring rubrics, and provides suggestions for practitioners. (Author/LRW)

Assessed the viability of the Comprehensive Clinical Performance Grid for Student Evaluation, introduced at The New England College of Optometry in 1996 in clinical student assessment. Analyzed faculty and student feedback and consistency with previous evaluations, between evaluators, and between clinical sites and tracts. Found satisfaction with…

Discusses an approach to analyzing performance assessments that identifies potential reasons for misfitting items and uses this information to improve on items and rubrics for these assessments. Illustrates the approach through a 53-item mathematics performance assessment completed by approximately 500 middle school students. (SLD)

Discusses assessment as an element in the teaching and learning process of adult learners. Topics include the instructor's role; the importance of assessment to the educational process; student-centered assessment philosophy and learner-centered teaching; alternative assessments to encourage authentic learning; grading rubrics; and journal…

Provides teaching suggestions for metric units incorporating humor. Includes teaching suggestions and rubrics. Also includes connections to other subject areas in literature, science, and mathematics. (MM)

While there are many factors that affect the quality of teacher education programs, one specific related factor, a culture of accountability, will be addressed in this reflection of Haberman's work. A systematic review of faculty performance with specific rubrics and increasing expectation based on earned faculty rank is a necessary step in…

While the constructs of protean and boundaryless careers have informed career theory for years, rigorous empirical examinations of these career models have lagged behind. This study seeks to redress this situation by constructing and developing four new scales to measure protean and boundaryless career attitudes. The scales related to protean…

With the rising trend toward childhood obesity and increasing costs of health insurance, quality physical education programs play a critical role in educating children on the benefits of physical activity. What must be done first in any physical education program is to review the curriculum to ensure that it reflects best practices. This article…

Develops activities based on pedagogical research that indicate that student engagement and comprehension are enhanced by methodologies that promote active participation, critical thinking, and an interdisciplinary, contextualist approach to teach evolutionary theory to students in an upper-division, capstone course. Provides critical thinking…