This article presents the state of practice of evaluability assessment (EA) as represented in the published literature from 1986 to 2006. Twenty-three EA studies were located, showing that EA was conducted in a wide variety of programs, disciplines, and settings. Most studies employed document reviews, site visits, and interviews, common…

A vast majority of the studies exploring the associations between student and school related factors and standardized test scores were conducted in developed countries. On the other hand, research suggests that the generalization of the findings of those studies to developing countries often leads to incorrect conclusions. The purpose of this…

This book by Sheryn Spencer Waterman follows the bestselling "Handbook on Differentiated Instruction for Middle and High Schools." With numerous examples and strategies, it is an all-inclusive manual on assessing student readiness, interests, learning and thinking styles. It includes examples of: (1) Pre-, Formative and Summative assessments; (2)…

In California, the James Irvine Foundation created ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career to promote multiple pathways that link to the state's 15 major industry sectors. The ConnectEd Network of Schools, a demonstration project supported by Irvine, plays a critical role in expanding student options through multiple pathways and…

Although the Angoff procedure is among the most widely used standard setting procedures for tests comprising multiple-choice items, research has shown that subject matter experts have considerable difficulty accurately making the required judgments in the absence of examinee performance data. Some authors have viewed the need to provide…

This article describes 10 lessons learned from two decades of new teacher induction. These include: (1) A new teacher induction program requires a systemwide commitment to teacher development; (2) Induction programs accelerate new teacher effectiveness; (3) Standards-based formative assessment tools document impact; (4) Induction programs build a…

High-quality formative assessment data are critical to the successful application of any problem-solving model (e.g., response to intervention). Formative data available for a wide variety of outcomes (academic, behavior) and targets (individual, class, school) facilitate effective decisions about needed intervention supports and responsiveness to…

Objective: Investigate the impact of a nutrition education program on student academic performance as measured by achievement of education standards. Design: Quasi-experimental crossover-controlled study. Setting: California Central Valley suburban elementary school (58% qualified for free or reduced-priced lunch). Participants: All sixth-grade…

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the ways in which a range of quality frameworks have been validated and to identify a number of factors that have an impact on validation processes. Design/methodology/approach: Seven examples of published quality frameworks applicable to the field of e-learning are described and the methods used to validate…

While effective feedback has frequently been identified as a key strategy in learning and teaching, little known research has focused on students' perceptions of feedback and the contribution feedback makes to students' learning and teaching. This reported qualitative study aims to enrich our understanding of these perceptions and importantly to…

The main interest in this article is students' involvement in assessment as a part of growth towards self-directedness in learning. In order to enhance students' development of autonomy in learning, a project involving "older" students as peer examiners for "younger" students was designed and carried out. Students in the sixth semester in a…

The importance of student assessment, particularly for summative purposes, has increased greatly over the past thirty years. At the same time, emphasis on including all students in assessment programs has also increased. Assessment programs, whether they are large-scale, district-based, or teacher developed, have traditionally attempted to assess…

This session will describe the social validity, usability and intent to use of an interactive, state-of-the-art, professional development program based on the Response to Intervention (RtI) approach and its core components (e.g., problem-solving strategy; three tiers of intervention service delivery with universal, selected and intensive…

A central commitment for professional development schools (PDSs) is to link preservice teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development with improved learning outcomes for pupils. PDSs are expected to improve student achievement in two primary ways: (1) by enriching and intensifying the learning environment through professional…

In this article, we set out to assess QuADEM (Quality Assessment of Digital Educational Material), one of the latest methods for evaluating online language learning courseware. What is special about QuADEM is that the evaluation is based on observing the actual usage of the online courseware and that, from a checklist of 12 different components,…