Recently growth-based approaches to accountability have received considerable attention because they have the potential to reward schools and teachers for improving student performance over time by measuring the progress of students at all levels of the performance spectrum (including those who have not yet reached proficiency on state…

This article discusses the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the experiences of teacher candidates in a master's degree exit assessment pilot at a university in the southwestern region of the United States. Data (gathered from classroom observations, written documents, and interviews of eight teacher candidates and nine faculty…

This article looks at a process of integrating real-life data investigation in a course on descriptive statistics. Referring to constructivist perspectives, this article suggests a look at the potential of inculcating alternative teaching methods that encourage students to take a more active role in their own learning and participate in the…

Testing assessments of undergraduate political science students is predictable and stagnant. A missing, yet valuable, testing assessment tool that can contribute to the repertoire of political science is the oral examination. Borrowing this testing tool largely from foreign language departments, oral exams require students to "think on their…

The current study examined the validation and alignment of the PASA-Science by determining whether the alternate science assessment anchors linked to the regular education science anchors; whether the PASA-Science assessment items are science; whether the PASA-Science assessment items linked to the alternate science eligible content, and what…

The structure of two-tier testing is such that the first tier consists of a multiple-choice question and the second tier requires justifications for choices of answers made in the first tier. This study aims to evaluate two-tier tasks in "proportion" in terms of students' capacity to write and select justifications and to examine the effect of…

Introduction: This study investigated the use of accommodations and the performance of students with visual impairments and severe cognitive disabilities on the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA)yCoan alternate performance-based assessment. Methods: Differences in test scores on the most basic level (level A) of the PASA of 286…

This comprehensive and insightful book shows how present educational policies and practices to educate language minority students in the United States ignore an essential characteristic--their emergent bilingualism. In one accessible guide, the authors compile the most up-to-date research findings to demonstrate how ignoring children's…

The report is organized to provide information on the school-level implementation of alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Following the Introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 describes the study design and methods, including the development of the teacher survey and data collection procedures and analyses.…

The author found that the GPA at the end of the MBA program is most accurately predicted by the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). MBA GPA is also predicted, though less accurately, by the Scholastic Level Exam, a mathematics test, undergraduate GPA, and previous career progression. If…

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children's self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based…

Superitem test based on the SOLO model (Structure of the Observing Learning Outcome) has become a powerful alternative assessment tool for monitoring the growth of students' cognitive ability in solving mathematics problems. This article focused on developing a superitem test to assess students' algebraic solving ability through interview method.…

The finding and the recruiting of scientists have been a long-standing issue in higher education. Due to the dearth of reliable evidence on scholarly potential at an early stage of a scientist's career, the hiring department often has to look for alternative assessment criteria. Drawing on the similarity-attraction theory, it is hypothesized that…

This is the twelfth annual report by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) analyzing public reporting of disaggregated assessment data for elementary and secondary students with disabilities in the United States. Reporting disaggregated performance data at the state and district level to the public is required of states by the…

Accurate spelling is a complex act that requires cognitive and linguistic knowledge of the phonological, morphological, syntactical, and semantic principles of our language. Students with disabilities frequently exhibit spelling difficulties related to language learning disorders and inefficient cognitive processing. These difficulties often are…