States are increasingly using value-added approaches to evaluate teacher effectiveness. There is much debate regarding whether these methods should be employed and, if employed, what role such methods should play in comprehensive teacher evaluation systems. In this article, we consider the use of value-added modeling (VAM) to evaluate special…

In recent years, substantial investments have been made in reengineering systems of teacher evaluation. The new generation models of teacher evaluation typically adopt a standards-based view of teaching quality and include a value-added measure of growth in student learning. With more than a decade of experience and research, it is timely to…

Remediation is one of the largest single interventions intended to improve outcomes for underprepared college students, yet little is known about the remedial screening process. Using administrative data and a rich predictive model, we find that severe mis-assignments are common using current test-score-cutoff-based policies, with…

Federal law requires that all students, including students with disabilities, participate in state assessments used for accountability purposes. It also requires states to assess students in several content areas, including science. Most students with disabilities take the general science assessment with or without accommodations, but a few…

Despite the prevalence of student learning objectives (SLOs) in teacher evaluation systems throughout the United States, research on the validity of student and teacher SLO scores used for high-stakes decisions is lacking. For this reason, this dissertation is comprised of two chapters that examine student and teacher-level SLO performance data…

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of dynamic assessment on EFL learners' reading comprehension in different proficiency levels. 197 Iranian university students participated in six groups of this study. The design of the research was quasi-experimental. The results of MANOVA test revealed that while dynamic assessment had…

The spread of a seemingly playful alternative to traditional diplomas, inspired by Boy Scout achievement patches and video-game power-ups, suggests that the standard certification system no longer works in today's fast-changing job market. Educational upstarts across the Web are adopting systems of "badges" to certify skills and abilities.…

Many postsecondary institutions, and community colleges in particular, require that students demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before taking college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using two widely available tests--ACCUPLACER and Compass. However, placement testing practice is beginning to change for three…

Susan M. Fulgham and Michael F. Shaughnessy, Contributing Editors for this journal, present their interview with Marcia C. Linn, Professor of Development and Cognition, specializing in education in mathematics, science, and technology, in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Linn is currently investigating…

In the present offering we challenge the presumption that the educational testing of students provides objective information about such students. This presumption largely rests on an empiricist account of science. In light of mounting criticism, however, empiricist foundationalism has given way to a social epistemology. From this standpoint,…

This meta-ethnography explores qualitative studies around the Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) framework of mathematics and illustrates how CGI epitomizes differentiation. The meta-ethnographic process is used to synthesize CGI as differentiation, specifically within the elementary mathematics classroom. Thomas P. Carpenter is credited as one…

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) requires faculty from educator preparation programs to provide evidence of credential candidates' impact on K-12 student learning. However, there is a paucity of information on preparation programs' use of direct assessments of student learning to gauge credential candidate…

Recent studies have raised concerns about the vagueness of alternate assessment eligibility guidelines, specifically, that students with mild disabilities (SWMD) have been inappropriately assigned to alternate assessment--alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). In this study, special education teachers (N = 317) were surveyed about SWMD in…

Research examining the contexts that influence the use of learner-centered assessment (LCA) practices in undergraduate courses has not kept pace with those focusing on teaching practices. Such research is needed given that conceptualizations of effective pedagogy generally include both teaching and assessment. The authors examined a range of…

Dynamic assessment is currently discussed in educational literature as one of the most promising practices in stimulating learning among various groups of students, including gifted and potentially gifted students. The present study investigates effects of dynamic assessment on mathematics achievement among elementary school students, with…