A rationale for the use of student evaluations of courses and teachers and the functions such feedback can fulfill are outlined. The importance of an educational consultant, working with the lecturer to interpret and use student-generated data, is stressed. A case study embodying these elements is presented. (Editor/SJL)

Intercorrelations among overall clinical performance ratings, examination scores, and overall grade-point average were computed for a graduating class of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine to increase understanding of cognitive and noncognitive attributes of clinical performance. (Author/JMD)

The performance of psychiatric residents with various lengths of medical primary care internship during their first year of residency training are compared. The results suggest that first-year residents without a traditional 12 months medical internship are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with those with a year's internship. (JMD)

Results of a follow-up study of the same students used in the Feldman study indicate that individual student evaluations are remarkably stable over time and more reliable than previously assumed. There was systematic information in individual student ratings that internal consistency approaches have ignored or assumed to be nonexistent.…

Counselors must recognize that most intelligence tests measure a sample of the childs' intellectual functioning on a variety of tasks rather than innate potential. Intelligence varies depending on personality, development, and environmental influences. (Author/HLM)

Widespread support for the National Forum on Assessment's 1995 "Principles and Indicators" shows deep desire for a radical reconstruction of student assessment practices. Assessment to enhance student learning should rest on certain foundations: an understanding of how student learning occurs; clear statements of desired, universal…

Discusses how key ideas from ethnography can be translated into principles that can guide assessment and evaluation in early-childhood-education settings. Notes that when ethnographic principles are used in education settings, assessment and evaluation are integrated with teaching and learning, are interrelated, reciprocal processes, and are used…

Examined the extent to which tutor ratings remained stable in the long term by evaluating 291 ratings of 140 tutors at Maastricht University in the Netherlands between 1992 and 1995. The results indicated that, if the aggregated score and overall judgement are used to interpret the precision of individual scores, four and two occasions,…

Reports a study that examined factors associated with creativity in successful teaching of college health education. Interviews with health educators who had received student-determined university teaching awards identified creative elements necessary to their success and noted individual characteristics that separated them from other teachers.…

The biggest barrier to fully implementing a program like the Big Six has been traditional attitudes toward student assessment. This article defines assessment terminology and provides an annotated bibliography of World Wide Web resources for alternative assessment, authentic assessment and portfolios, rubrics, specific course content and ages and…

A study of 40 medical students assessing the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) determined that cognitive measures associated with expert performance can be used to distinguish students who have participated in PBL from their counterparts in terms of knowledge, reasoning, and learning strategies. Includes a case study of an 11-year-old…

Interconnects numerous conceptual threads in the field of giftedness, such as performance, achievement, competence, outcomes, metacognition, creativity, and making connections. Addresses the influence of different factors on the progressive nature of talent development and the need to differentiate curriculum. (CR)

A socially moderated link was established between statewide achievement results and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) by using the same achievement level descriptions in an Iowa Test of Basic Skills standard-setting and an NAEP standard setting study. A statistically moderated link was established through an equipercentile…

Examines the rationale underlying competency-based evaluation, the value of authentic (as contrasted with simulation) assessment, and different techniques used for authentic evaluation. Details four authentic evaluation types useful in dental education: ratings; exemplary products; test cases; and portfolios. Discusses matching evaluation methods…

Educational contracts define the parameters of teacher obligations to students, parents, and other stakeholders freeing teachers to design and implement instruction rather than trying to fulfill roles (counselor, social worker, parent) best filled by other stakeholders. Describes analogous contracts used in the business world and provides examples…