This paper provides an example of how institutional service-learning assessment data can be used to drive organizational change. Furco's (1999) self-assessment rubric for the institutionalization of service-learning in higher education is used in modified form as the instrument through which organizational-level assessments were made. The process…

This study evaluated a "substantively driven" method for scoring NAEP writing assessments automatically. The study used variations of an existing commercial program, e-rater[R], to compare the performance of three approaches to automated essay scoring: a "brute-empirical" approach in which variables are selected and weighted solely according to…

In this article, the author argues that, if schools truly were based on standards, they would look much different than they do now. She describes the standards-based system of an experimental school in Colorado. Here, she discusses how students document their work in a variety of ways, such as: (1) various types of portfolios; (2) oral delivery;…

The Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) field continues to experience increased valuing of experiential practitioner knowledge. A welcome result of this evolution has been the broadening of research perspectives. The 16 practitioner narratives in "Insights on Teaching Speaking in TESOL" are written by…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

The "Writing What You Read" (WWYR) rubric was designed for large-scale assessments, and differs from most narrative rubrics in its narrative-specific content and its developmental framework. The rubric contains five analytic subscales for theme, character, setting, plot, and communication, and a sixth holistic scale for overall…

In merging social studies education with language arts, classroom teachers are utilizing selections of historical fiction to teach critical literacy skills while also meeting social studies standards. While most of the selections used for teaching history and social studies themes are strong in terms of literary merit, they may be deficient in…

If the ultimate aim of education is to shift to the individual the responsibility for pursuing his education, then self-assessment is a very valuable strategy. Self-assessment begins with identifying suitable criteria. During the Science Enrichment Programs, Eastwell describes how he used self-assessment with upper primary and lower high school…

This book presents ideas to help middle and high school physical education (PE) teachers develop performance based assessments. The book: identifies problems in traditional PE and explains how using performance based assessment can improve student learning; notes that it is unnecessary to totally rewrite the PE program, offering guidelines for…

This report explains how students with significant disabilities who submit portfolios for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Alternate Assessments are evaluated to meet state requirements for a "competency determination" needed to receive a regular high school diploma. The reasoning behind the Massachusetts approach and the…

This English-Spanish language report includes the rationale for creating an assessment model for Spanish writing, offering an overview of the components of high quality assessment for any subject area, particularly Spanish writing. It presents the characteristics of effective Spanish writing, rubrics for scoring student performance based on the…

Students' perspectives, levels of epistemological understanding, and critical thinking dispositions related to the use of case studies in an educational psychology course. This is the second part of a research project investigating students' perspectives and critical thinking dispositions related to case study pedagogy in an educational psychology…

Consisting of items from the 1998 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment as well as some items created specifically for the Practice Test, this Practice Test intends to be representative of the type of test and contain items similar to those that appear on actual grade 5 reading tests. These practice tests are not intended to be psychometrically…

Consisting of items from the 1998 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment as well as some items created specifically for the Practice Test, this Practice Test intends to be representative of the type of test and contain items similar to those that appear on actual grade 3 reading tests. These practice tests are not intended to be psychometrically…