The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of how students with disabilities, including students with significant cognitive disabilities and English learners with disabilities, can be included in local assessments used for instructional and programmatic decision making--that is, for formative purposes. This article focuses on formative…

The 1990 Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students (AFT, NCME, & NEA, 1990) made a documentable contribution to the field. However, the Standards have become a bit dated, most notably in two ways: (1) the Standards do not consider current conceptions of formative assessment knowledge and skills, and (2) the Standards…

The United States education system depends on legislation and funding at the federal, state and local levels. Public understanding of assessment therefore is important to educational reform in the USA. Educational reformers often invoke assessment information as a reason for reform, typically by citing unacceptable achievement on some measure or…

Don't settle for assessing recall and comprehension only when you can use this guide to create assessments for higher-order thinking skills. Assessment expert Susan M. Brookhart brings you up to speed on how to develop and use test questions and other assessments that reveal how well your students can analyze, reason, solve problems, and think…

Professional assessment organizations almost universally endorse the use of multiple measures for making education decisions. In practice, however, the concept of multiple measures is defined and applied in many different ways, depending on how we answer two questions--What counts as a "measure"? and How are the multiple measures…

Motivation and effort patterns associated with achievement on classroom assessments in middle-school science and social studies were studied with a sample of 223 8th graders in different classroom assessment environments. Classroom assessment environments were characterized by student perceptions of the importance and value of assessment tasks,…

Presents a theory about the role of classroom assessment in motivating student effort and achievement. The theory postulates that in any particular class the classroom assessment environment is played out in repeated assessment events through which a teacher communicates and students respond according to their perceptions. (SLD)

This report addresses assessment of college student performance. Discussion focuses on why classroom assessment of students' achievement is important; how an instructor can ensure the quality of information from classroom assessments; methods of assessment particularly suited to various achievement targets; how the results of several assessments…

This digest addresses the importance of and the methods used to assess the performance of college students. Following a definition of "assessment," the digest considers: (1) why classroom assessment of students' achievement is important; (2) how an instructor can ensure the quality of information from classroom assessments; (3) methods…

This article is organized into two parts: (1) a review of literature on teachers' grading practices, and (2) a discussion of the findings about teachers' grading practices in light of evaluation and motivation theory. The discussion considers both research implications and practical recommendations. (Author)

Investigated a theoretical framework describing the role of classroom assessment in student effort and achievement using data from four classroom assessments in each of two third-grade classrooms, including interviews with 32 students. In general, the expected positive relationships were found among perceptions of task, self-efficacy, effort, and…

This paper discusses appropriate measurement content and instructional strategies for courses in classroom assessment in the areas of grading and communicating assessment results. Classroom teachers need to understand a wider range of assessments than many textbooks cover, and an aspiring teacher's classroom assessment practices need to be…

Two perspectives on assessment for teacher certification are described: the competency orientation, and the professional orientation. These perspectives are used to discuss current problems, basically validity issues, in teacher assessment: (1) a professional orientation toward assessment; (2) criterion-referenced assessments; and (3) the unit of…

The effects of classroom assessment environment (CAE) variables on yearly achievement in mathematics and science in grades 7 through 12 were studied through the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), using cohorts of approximately 3,000 students each in the 7th and 10th grades who were followed for 4 years. While the LSAY did not include all…

This instructional module from the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) explains how to design assessments for written reports, develop performance criteria and communicate them to students, monitor progress, and assess the outcome. Learning how to give students a role in assessment adds a dimension to their responsibilities. (SLD)