Purpose: While known by many names, qualifying exams function as gatekeepers to graduate student advancement to PhD candidacy, yet there has been little formal study on best qualifying exam practices particularly in biomedical and related STEM PhD programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the current state of qualifying exams through an…

Condensed courses are commonly used across academia as a means for students to catch up or get ahead of their curriculum. Instructors may be hesitant to teach such courses due to concerns about limited knowledge retention and reduced academic rigor. We sought to determine if there are any differences in changes of student attitudes before and…

The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming science education by facilitating innovative pedagogical paradigms while raising substantial concerns about scholarly integrity. One particularly pressing issue is the growing risk of student use of GenAI tools to outsource assessment tasks, potentially compromising…

The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming science education by facilitating innovative pedagogical paradigms while raising substantial concerns about scholarly integrity. One particularly pressing issue is the growing risk of student use of GenAI tools to outsource assessment tasks, potentially compromising…

Science educators in the United States are adapting to a new vision of how students learn science. Children are natural explorers and their observations and intuitions about the world around them are the foundation for science learning. Unfortunately, the way science has been taught in the United States has not always taken advantage of those…

This study examines the effectiveness of three approaches for maintaining equivalent performance standards across test forms with small samples: (1) common-item equating, (2) resetting the standard, and (3) rescaling the standard. Rescaling the standard (i.e., applying common-item equating methodology to standard setting ratings to account for…

The release of the "NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education" and the "Next Generation Science Standards" has important implications for classroom teaching and assessment. Of particular interest is the implementation of science practices in the chemistry classroom, and the definitions established by the NRC makes these…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Systems (SBAC) started in the 2014-2015 academic year and has been regarded by many in the field as a radical effort to improve the American English Language Art (ELA) educational standards. These two consortia, being aligned with Common…

National standards for student achievement have been developed in the arts in a process that paralleled the standards discussions being held in mathematics, language arts, science, history, and other areas. The standards process, while demanding, has generated important discussion and debate about which art forms, what kind of knowledge, and what…

The Common Core State Standards represent an exciting step forward for California, and for the nation as a whole, in supporting instruction that can better prepare students for college and career success. Concurrent with the transition to the new standards, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), of which California is a governing…

This guide is designed to help adult educators and administrators better understand the content of the GED® test. This guide is tailored to each test subject and highlights the test's item types, assessment targets, and guidelines for how items will be scored. This 2016 edition has been updated to include the most recent information about the…

In 2005, to address concerns about students who might fall in the "gap" between the regular assessment and the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), the U.S. Department of Education announced that states could develop alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). This article…

This study is the first to address student evaluation of faculty members (SFE) from a student perspective at a major Jordanian public university using a comprehensive (71-item) questionnaire administered to 620 undergraduates. Addressed are students' perceptions of the SFE process in terms of: (a) their paper-based vs. online-format preferences;…

"Louisiana Believes” embraces the principle that all children can achieve at high levels, as evidenced in Louisiana's recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). "Louisiana Believes" also promotes the idea that Louisiana's educators should be empowered to make decisions to support the success of their students. In…

"Louisiana Believes" embraces the principle that all children can achieve at high levels, as evidenced in Louisiana's recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). "Louisiana Believes" also promotes the idea that Louisiana's educators should be empowered to make decisions to support the success of their students.…