This paper discusses a preliminary study aimed at examining counseling students' cultural identity development. The primary goals of this project were to develop a rubric for assessing racial cultural identity growth; to provide a personal and meaningful paradigm for the trainee to explore racial cultural identity development and a format for self…

This study investigated cognitive constructs to be measured by word problems in algebra. One performance-based assessment was administered to 290 high school students. Students' responses were scored by three scoring systems: the correct/incorrect criterion (0/1); a holistic scoring rubric (0-4); and an analytical scoring rubric for measuring…

Discusses how to implement student self-assessment and large-group assessment in the high school instrumental music classroom. Reports on the students' thoughts about these assessment types. Includes various forms to assist in assessment. (CMK)

This article discusses differentiating reading instruction for gifted students in the primary grades. It discusses the need for pre-assessment to guide teachers' use of curriculum compacting, authentically assessing reading comprehension, asking metacognitive questions to challenge students, using rubrics for students' self-assessment, and using…

The current standards movement cannot succeed unless a school's culture is committed to helping all students achieve excellence. Principals must build a schoolwide culture of quality focused on learning projects. Teachers should design projects backwards, using standards and assessment rubrics based on actual student products and performances.…

Each January since 1997, "Education Week," the K-12 industry's newspaper of record, has issued its "Quality Counts" report, ranking states by, among other things, the "equity" of their school finances. On the other hand, every fall since 2001, the "Education Trust," a national organization devoted to closing the achievement gap in public schools,…

Reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" aloud to her sixth-grade students inspired this author to create a mathematics activity based on budgeting for school supplies for Hogwarts School. In that lesson, each student was assigned a name from the Hogwarts School roster and allotted a different dollar amount for his/her budget. Students…

The new electronic submission format for NCATE accreditation requires colleges and universities to present six to eight assessments that demonstrate whether their teacher candidates meet NASPE's beginning teacher standards. Programs must submit a description of the assessment, the scoring rubric used to judge the assessment, and candidate…

Programs of professional development for preservice teachers of young children in the United States attempt to align their program goals and candidate performances to The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI), and their particular state standards. In addition they…

More instructors at every educational level are developing online courses and adding online components to face-to-face courses on an ever-broadening array of topics each semester. This paper provides recommendations for designing and maintaining online learning environments that encourage active learning, interaction, and academic integrity based…

This article questions whether popular approaches to the assessment of technology integration with classroom instruction are valid. The article explores Messick's (1993) conceptualisation of consequential validity, in an attempt to understand what validity must be evident when the integration of technology with classroom instruction is assessed.…

If writing matters, how can we improve it? This study investigated the nature of writing plan quality and its relationship to the ensuing writing scores. Data were drawn from the 1998 Provincial Learning Assessment Programme (PLAP) in Writing, which was administered to pupils in Grades 4, 7, and 10 across British Columbia, Canada. Common features…

This article provides a brief overview of the qualities of American presidential leadership as well as two rubrics that social studies students can utilize to analyze candidates for the presidency in the past, present, and future. Presidents often exhibit certain characteristics or attributes that make them effective leaders. These abilities…

Incorporating newspapers into a science course encourages students to take control of their learning. Assignments related to newspapers facilitate active learning in a classroom environment focused on the learner. Several different types of assignments are described for three different general education science courses. (Contains 3 tables.)

Electronic portfolios are a "collection of work captured by electronic means, that serves as an exhibit of individual efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas" (Weidmer, 1998, p. 586). Because of the rapid growth and updates in technology, keeping electronic portfolios is becoming increasingly common in a variety of educational…