A group of top suburban Chicago districts banded together to learn what it takes to truly be "world-class."

The effects of three information distribution strategies in a course management system (CMS) on student performance and satisfaction were investigated. Analysis of the data found that the distribution of instructional materials in class resulted in significantly higher student performance on an end-of-the-semester technical knowledge test than…

There are usually many testing activities going on in a school, with different tests serving different purposes, thus organization and planning are key in creating an efficient system in assessing the most important educational objectives. In the ideal case, an assessment system will be able to inform on student learning, instruction and…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims…

Basic English Writing (BEW) courses have been part of English learning curricula in many universities. Some research has been conducted to investigate various class designs for English language courses. However, class designs for English writing are not yet abundantly developed to provide more experimental results. The purpose of this study was to…

This report presents general criteria for authentic pedagogy, instructional activities rooted in a primary concern for high standards of intellectual quality, as well as more specific standards that can be used to judge the quality of assessment tasks, classroom lessons, and student performance. Examples are given of tasks, lessons, and student…

A sound performance evaluation system uses a multitude of assessment methods to gather information and data about the performance of an individual. Four models are described that have been used with multiple assessment results to make decisions about performance. In a compensatory model, weak performance on one measure or attribute can be traded…

This collection of articles is the third in a series on assessment produced by Finger Lakes Community College (New York). It deals with classroom assessment as an ongoing process that can be of significant value to teachers as well as to students. Assessment at the college and assessment in the classroom in general are explored. Articles include:…

This paper describes a testing program that established job-related standards of performance and testing procedures for the technician position within a gas transportation company. New standards were being established in response to safety concerns stemming from investigations that identified training inadequacy as a cause of accidents. The job…

Authentic assessment differs from traditional paper-and-pencil assessment in that it is designed to reflect students'"real world" experience. Authentic assessments may assume a variety of forms (including demonstrations, oral interviews/presentations, simulations, self-assessments, and peer/instructor evaluations); however, their focus is always…

How well a combination of junior/senior undergraduate grade point average (GPA), scores on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT), and writing sample scores can predict success for students seeking a Master's degree in education was studied. Success was determined for the study by the student's graduate GPA and whether or not the student graduated from…

The study described in this paper is part of an effort to improve understanding of the science assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It involved the coding of all the items in the 1996 NAEP science assessments, which included 45 blocks (15 each for grades 4, 8, and 12) and over 500 items. Each of the approximately…

A study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using video as a method of beginning teacher observation. In addition, the study investigated whether or not trained observers (raters) could score beginner teacher performance videotapes reliably using a 4-point holistic scoring scale. To this end, the researcher collected 24 beginning…

This handbook assists educators in improving the links among civic education curriculum, instruction, and assessment. First-person accounts detailing teachers' thoughts present a basis for tracing the evolution of assessment tasks and rubrics for evaluation. Samples of student work are provided to stimulate thinking and discussion. Activities for…

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on new forms of assessment by examining the impact of teacher involvement in the scoring of standards-based performance assessments. Researchers studied 250 of 500 teachers who participated in a New York state project to pilot new state assessment prototypes. The National Center for Restructuring…