Many higher education institutions use student evaluation systems as a way of highlighting course and lecturer strengths and areas for improvement. Globally, the student voice has been increasing in volume, and capitalising on student feedback has been proposed as a means to benefit teacher professional development. This paper examines the student…

In this year's Distinguished Educator department, we feature six educators whose research has focused on the role of early literacy in early childhood education. Each of the six addresses a vitally important aspect of early childhood literacy teaching and learning. Sections include: "Working with Families as Partners in Early Literacy," by Dorothy…

"What gets assessed is what gets taught" is a common assertion whose meaning is often underestimated. It is not just what gets assessed, but how it is assessed that has implications for what is learned. When a child who is asked the meaning of his report card grades responds, "If I knew that I'd be the teacher" he is saying something about the…

Learner-centred approaches to language teaching, especially those that seek to develop learner autonomy, require the learner to take decisions concerning the goals, content and methods of learning; they also assign a central role to self-assessment. Although the logic of learner-centredness demands that learner self-assessment should somehow be…

Reviews research concerning assessment of Black children and proposes a strategy to encourage fair and appropriate psychological/educational decisions. The five phases of the model include observation, testing, data analysis, and evaluation. Culture-specific tests should be used in addition to traditional measures to provide equal opportunities…

Formerly titled "Empowering Gifted Minds: Educational Advocacy That Works", the author believes this book is the definitive manual on gifted advocacy for gifted students. The author tells parents and teachers how to document a child's abilities to provide reasonable educational options year by year. This book provides imperative information on…

Resegregation is the process by which students are separated into racially or ethnically isolated groups within desegregated schools. Resegregation may result from the traditional practice of sorting students into apparently homogeneous groups through ability grouping and tracking and through student selection for compensatory education, special…

Describes how students learn and how they are evaluated at the secondary level in the Hungarian school system. Notes also the process and standards for university admission. (SR)

As automated scoring of complex constructed-response examinations reaches operational status, the process of evaluating the quality of resultant scores, particularly in contrast to scores of expert human graders, becomes as complex as the data itself. Using a vignette from the Architectural Registration Examination (ARE), this article explores the…

Presents the social facilitation paradigm as a useful model for predicting positive and negative effects of supervision observation on the performance of counselors. Describes some recent studies that have attempted to test this paradigm in actual counseling studies and offers some suggestions for future research. (LLL)

Teachers can improve practice by examining students' work collaboratively. This paper describes how student work can be the basis for collaborative discussions about teaching and learning; notes that collaborative discussions of student work is increasing with the growing use of portfolio assessment; explains how to analyze student work to promote…

The Institute for the Advancement of Emerging Technologies in Education (IAETE), housed at Edvantia's Appalachia Educational Laboratory, addressed the need to assess technology literacy in an e-mail-based panel held during one week in September 2005. The conversation began with the importance of defining technology literacy, identifying a range…

Reviews strengths and weaknesses of value-added model of outcomes assessment in higher education. Explores important measurement issues that student development specialists who are currently involved in assessment may confront. Makes recommendations for researchers choosing the value-added outcomes assessment model. (NB)

Addressing issues, concerns, and practices surrounding how children use spelling and become competent, confident spellers and writers, this booklet provides practical information, personal stories of practicing North Carolina teachers, strategies, and helpful suggestions for transitioning from textbook spelling to spelling in use. Sections of the…

Reviews selected research, widely-used commercial tests, and recent literature on critical thinking. States that evaluation of critical thinking processes should encompass more than simple tests. Concludes with six guidelines for evaluating critical thinking. (JDH)