This paper examines the effectiveness of "Bridging"--a performance-based assessment and curriculum development tool for teachers of young children--in shaping preservice teachers' learning and teaching experiences. The experiences are examined for evidence of whether the use of "Bridging" during the student teaching period 1) facilitates student…

Peer leading of small-group discussion of cases; use of modified subjective, objective, assessment of physiology (SOAP) notes; and opportunities for self-assessment were introduced into a Medical Physiology course to increase students' awareness and practice of professional behaviors. These changes arose from faculty members' understanding of the…

The 4th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2011) brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large datasets to answer educational research questions. The conference, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 6-9, 2011, follows the three previous editions…

Teachers conducting a thematically organized literature-based reading program centered around student-led discussion groups wanted to explore ways in which the values they wanted to promote could be reflected in the ways they assessed their students. This study considers how valuing a broader scope of language and literacy abilities and making…

This manual presents information about student learning, assessments, and evaluation, and gives practical suggestions for aiding student achievement in the visual arts. The Introduction, (1) "Finding Tar Beach: A Context for Assessment" (Deborah Smith-Shank) reminds educators that evaluation, assessment, and judgment procedures selected should…

Kentucky high schools are attempting to address requirements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). This study was conducted to collect and interpret data related to the implementation of high school restructuring and make recommendations. Thirty-three schools were invited to participate based on categories of restructuring,…

Educators are beginning to look at authentic assessment as a valid alternative to standardized tests and traditional objective tests. Although authentic assessment means different things to different people, it is understood to focus on whether or not students can use the skills and strategies they have learned and apply them in appropriate…

The relationship between selected contextual and socioeconomic variables and school-level results from a statewide performance-based student assessment system was studied using the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). KIRIS uses portfolios of student work, scores from on-demand assessments, and student performance on…

This booklet, which is intended for vocational educators/trainers in Australia, explains the principles and techniques of competency-based training (CBT). The following topics are discussed in the first 10 sections: the decision to adopt CBT in Australia; the meaning of competency; teaching and learning to become competent (competency standards as…

During the 1990s discipline-specific associations have attempted to reform education with a variety of visions and standards. Most of these efforts have been independent of one another with minimal cross-curricular input on one another's steering committees and working groups. In some cases there appears to be explicit collaboration between…

Authentic assessment directly examines student performance on worthy intellectual tasks. The student determines the topic, the time allotted, the pacing, and the conditions under which the examples are generated. Authentic assessment is labor intensive, time-consuming, and expensive. Technology can provide the means for students to reflect on…

The College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) and its role in an era when standardized testing is being questioned and authentic assessment is championed are discussed. Authentic assessment should not mean discarding measurement expertise and existing technology. It is an approach to measuring the quality and level of performance that uses real…

The annual report on achievement testing in Alberta (Canada) includes test results for third-grade students in language learning (for the regular English program), sixth-grade students in social studies, and ninth-grade students in science. Results are regarded in terms of curriculum standards, assessment standards, and achievement standards.…

The development of written language and its functions were studied for 236 second graders (from four locations in the surrounding Birmingham, Alabama area) in 6 traditional and 6 writing process classrooms. Pen pal letters to undergraduates and written samples were obtained from three students from each class. Writing process classrooms reflect…

How the use of the Primary Language Record (PLR), an authentic assessment of young children's literacy development, has influenced teaching and learning in one New York City public elementary school was studied. The study looked at classroom practices; professional development; student work; and the thoughts of teachers, administrators, students,…