Compared four standard-setting procedures for an objective structure clinical examination (OSCE) in medical education. Applied Angoff, borderline, relative, and holistic procedures to the data used to establish a cutoff score for a pass/fail decision. The Angoff and borderline procedures gave similar results; however, the relative and holistic…

Montana Improving Schools Through Accreditation (MISTA) is a pilot program that empowers schools to attain accreditation through their own visions of improved student learning. Termed "performance-based accreditation," this process is voluntary and represents a consensus among the regional accrediting agency, the state education agency,…

Argues that understanding, in history or other domains, entails being able to use mental representations in order to engage in culturally meaningful performances such as creating products, solving problems, or building explanations. Examines challenges and possibilities for a performance-based view of understanding through the analysis of examples…

A "successful intelligence" intervention improved school achievement for a group of 225 ethnically diverse third-graders, both on performance assessments measuring analytical, creative, and practical achievements and on conventional multiple-choice memory assessments. Teaching for triarchic thinking facilitates factual recall, because learning…

Research on developing technology for large-scale performance assessments in science is reported briefly, and a conceptual framework is presented for defining, generating, and evaluating science performance assessments. Types of tasks are discussed, and the technical qualities of performance assessments are discussed in the context of…

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…

Studied the sampling variability of estimated variance components using data collected over several years for a listening and writing performance assessment and evaluated the stability of estimated measurement precision. Results indicate that the estimated variance components varied from one year to another and suggest that the measurement…

Based on the experience of Michigan State University's emergency medicine residency program, proposes a practical method for modifying an existing student evaluation format. The model provides a template other programs could use in assessing residents' acquisition of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes reflected in the six general competencies…

Examines how Montessori early childhood programs can use new student assessment strategies, exploring how student assessment fits in the teaching-learning cycle of Montessori schools. Describes characteristics of excellent student assessment systems. Asserts that although performance-based assessments require time to develop and administer, the…

Introduces an activity on the changes of matter. Uses different colors to represent the phases of water in different temperature ranges and discusses the phase changes of other chemicals. Includes an activity sheet. (YDS)

Examines problems with incorporating performance assessment into typical university measurement courses and suggests that multimedia applications be utilized to resolve some of them and to enhance the instruction of performance assessment in preservice teacher measurement courses. Examples of art education assessment are included. (Author/LRW)

Generalizability theory is used to show that the assumption that reliability for groups is greater than that for persons (and that error variance for groups is less than that for persons) is not necessarily true. Examples are provided from course evaluation and performance test literature. (SLD)

Used generalizability theory to assess the impact of using independent, randomly equivalent groups of experts to develop scoring algorithms for computer simulation tasks designed to measure physicians' patient management skills. Results with three groups of four medical school faculty members each suggest that the impact of the expert group may be…

Asserts that the recent emphasis on quality assurance in higher education, particularly with its sometimes confusing mixture of components, can do a disservice to effective education. (EV)

Evaluation in the 21st century will be characterized by critical and collaborative relationships, and citizens will include a basic knowledge of evaluation as part of their democratic literacy skills. Funders, program, staff, and participants will acquire the capacity to monitor and assess critical aspects of their own performance. (SLD)