Assessment is fundamental to student learning and achievement. However, whilst research consistently emphasises the role of assessment in supporting the development of the learner, the reality of assessment processes and practices in higher education is frequently indicated to fall someway short. This article aims to contribute to a shared…

In this Idea Brief, we review the literature on shared leadership (SL) and provide specific ideas for including SL in curriculum. SL is an emergent team property whereby leadership functions are distributed among the team's members. Though relatively new to the groups and teams literatures, its strong and positive impact on performance has been…

School librarians and other specialists should take note of the new wave of computer-based assessments required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), testing that is only now beginning to get off the ground. The new testing necessitates that districts possess the right hardware, install the requisite software, and, in some cases, create…

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…

Using clickers to gauge student understanding in large classrooms is well documented. Less well known is the effectiveness of using clickers with youth for test taking in large-scale Extension programs. This article describes the benefits and challenges of collecting evaluation data using clickers with a third-grade population participating in a…

Investigates how student ability, anxiety level, question wiseness, and relative difficulty of questions influence students' opinions of and performance on a chemistry examination. Examines strategies employed by students in selecting questions. Concludes that the major problem for test candidates is anxiety. (Author/DB)