Students generally do better on outcome-based performance tasks than on domain-specific tasks. Results on performance tasks must be interpreted in the context of instruction or guidance provided before or during their administration. Reliability is sometimes questionable, since teachers are highly influenced by students' overall academic…

Describes how authentic assessment was used in a literacy education class (on integrating instruction and assessment in the reading classroom) to enhance the learning process. Shows how evaluation of students' work was improved through the feedback generated by the class. Offers advice for those striving to make connections between instructional…

Education remains heavily shackled by punitive, test-driven reform. Despite reasonable alternatives, testing increasingly drives educational accountability and reform. Standardization of direct writing assessments promotes scoring reliability and facilitates educational comparisons and rankings. However, standardized writing is not good writing,…

Examines performance-based human-resource-development (HRD) practices and their relevance for student affairs. Provides a general overview of HRD, including discussion of the newest concepts in the field. Offers a model and tools for applying performance-based HRD within higher education institutions. (Author/MKA)

Describes the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium's (INTASC) efforts to design a performance-based assessment for beginning mathematics teachers. Describes the contents of a mathematics-teaching portfolio, the framework for evaluating the portfolio, a sample of evaluative statements, and a description of levels of performance…

Describes one mathematics educator's inclusion of an oral-performance assessment into a mathematics-methods course for preservice teachers at both the elementary and middle school levels. Provides the nature of the assessment and discusses issues related to implementation, and shares reflections on the assessment from the instructor and the…

Describes the design of four science-performance tasks for grade 9 students and the relationship between their performance on those tasks and multiple-choice items on the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. The students and schools used to develop the tasks were not included in the verification sample. Contains 22 references. (Author/ASK)

Studied content domain, format, and level of inquiry as factors contributing to the large variation in student performance across open-ended measures. Results for more than 1,200 eighth graders do not support the hypothesis that tasks similar in content, format, and level of inquiry would correlate higher with each other than with measures…

Examined reasons given by 301 K-12 educators for participating in a large-scale professional development conference and studied their beliefs about the usefulness of the conference. Teachers were drawn by the promise of substantive learning, but well conceived linkages for transfer of knowledge to the classroom were lacking. (SLD)

Points out areas in which aspects of assessment practice remain resistant to change: (1) evaluation of student achievement; (2) appropriate application of assessment innovation; and (3) preparation of educators in educational assessment. (SLD)

Credentialing programs were surveyed to determine the procedures they use to set performance standards on multiple-choice and open-ended assessments. Implications of the various standard-setting approaches for the National Assessment of Educational Progress are discussed, and it is asserted that generalizing from standard-setting in professional…

Provides a general framework for examining the consequences of assessment programs, especially statewide programs that intend to improve student learning by holding schools accountable. The framework is intended for use with programs using performance-based tasks but can be used with programs using traditional item formats as well. (SLD)

Discussion of technology assessment in schools focuses on how three school districts developed and carried out their own technology assessment rather than contracting it out. Highlights include computers in classrooms versus labs; computer trainers and teachers' needs; effects on student achievement; evaluation based on goals; authentic…

Describes a study that analyzed how community college faculty members' role perceptions affected their teaching styles and effectiveness, specifically those of women and minority faculty members. Concludes that no significant gender differences were obtained, and the only significant ethnic difference was obtained in role conflict. Cautions,…

Includes 10 articles related to evaluating learning in technical agriculture discuss evaluation techniques, authentic assessment, evaluation of student learning in agricultural mechanics, assessment of knowledge using standards and benchmarks, standardized testing, academic skills assessment, and formative classroom assessment. (JOW)