An alarming number of American pre-school children lack sufficient language and literacy skills to succeed in kindergarten. The type of curriculum that is available within pre-kindergarten settings can impact children's academic readiness. This work presents results from an evaluation of two language and literacy curricula (i.e., Let's Begin with…

An important component of internships is the connection between students, universities and employers. "High-quality internships... encourage contact between faculty and students as well as develop cooperation among students," (Implementing and Assessing Internships, 2002, 67). This "good practice" must exist to ensure good…

Evaluation and assessment are critical to the success of FLCs, and authentic assessment has the potential to contribute greatly to the quality of FLC experiences in terms of both process and outcomes. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

This qualitative study explores how college faculty and students make sense of the Capstone process by examining their perspectives of this culminating performance assessment used in a graduate-level secondary education program. Students and faculty articulated positive benefits about the Capstone process including the benefit of opportunities for…

This paper focuses primarily on the collaborative partnerships that have shaped the ARL Statistics and Measurement Program, which currently serves the objective of "describing and measuring the performance of research libraries and their contribution to teaching, research, scholarship, and community service." Over the last ten years, the ARL…

Performance-based assessments require teacher candidates to demonstrate proficiency on specific teaching tasks and apply knowledge in authentic settings. This article describes the development and use of performance-based assessments (PBAs) for advancing the learning and evaluation of teacher candidates in an early childhood special education…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to extend the research of Michael, Schwartz, and Balraj pertaining to presidential effectiveness. Faculty senate chairpersons, academic deans, senior-level institutional officers, and student leaders were surveyed in order to ascertain whether there was a relationship between stakeholders' perceptions and…

"Data collected from eligibility assessments need to be useful and connected across all areas of service delivery." The content and flow of information have enormous implications for practice. Professionals are challenged because they lack functional information needed to create useful goals and objectives, implement effective…

By examining American University's Washington Semester Program (AUWSP), this project analyzes the impact of intensive undergraduate experiential and active learning on subsequent student academic performance. In this article, we discuss the differences between traditional, active, and experiential learning methods to better understand the…

In 1992, adult education staff and adult literacy volunteer organizations developed 8 indicators of program quality to be used for evaluating adult basic education and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in New Jersey. Performance standards were developed to match the standards. An evaluation was conducted to determine how the indicators…

Reports on an ongoing evaluation of the Vermont portfolio assessment program. Indicates that the positive news about the instructional effects of the assessment program are in contrast with the empirical findings about the quality of the data the program has yielded. (SLD)

This paper explores issues about equity in the early childhood practicum assessment process. In presenting these issues I draw on data from a study which examined how tertiary supervisors understand and practise this assessment process. While the study did not ask any questions specifically about equity, a number of the tertiary supervisors…

Increasingly, out-of-school time programs are being asked to provide data that documents their progress and demonstrates their results. But for many OST programs and their over-worked staff this added responsibility is the "straw that broke the camel?s back." Across the country there is a cry from programs for help in deciding what to measure and…

Mandating portfolios on a systemwide or statewide basis may destroy one of their greatest assets: allowing students to reflect on their learning and feel a sense of hope and control. Once standards are defined by an outside authority, teacher-student collaboration is minimized and the importance of students' own goals and learning assessment…

A study of a medical student clinical assessment program since 1986 at the University of Massachusetts indicates student awareness of increased faculty observation and increased feedback to students during and following clinical rotations. Results indicate a conscious faculty effort to improve students' clinical skills by improved observation and…