With the current demands for greater accountability, schools must often choose between short-term responses that lead to improved scores or longer-term efforts to build student achievement and ensure quality teaching. This paper considers ways in which the arguments on either side of this issue manifest themselves in particular schools. The…

Goal 5 of "The Illinois Commitment," strategic plan for higher education in Illinois, stipulates that by 2004, all academic programs will systematically assess student learning and use assessment results to improve programs. This paper provides the history and context for the systematic assessment of student learning, including…

This paper describes the development of an instrument to assess the kinds of information literacy learning that take place in online courses. It includes the following sections: (1) Overview; (2) Variables; (3) Blueprint; (4) Validity; (5) Reliability; (6) Interpretations; (7) Bibliography; and (8) See the Instrument. The author hopes that…

This Cypress College mid-term report has been prepared in response to recommendations that resulted from the Cypress College 1999 accrediting team visit and self-study. Those items requiring special focus by the Accrediting Commission are addressed first, followed by the individual recommendations by the team, and finally comments on the college's…

This monograph deals specifically with the challenge of recognizing or assessing creativity. It is intended for teachers, program coordinators, administrators, counselors, or researchers who are concerned with such questions as, "Can creativity be measured?" "What assessment tools are available to assist us in recognizing creativity in students?"…

Many different ingredients are inherent in a quality program of reading instruction. These include word attack skills training and improving comprehension. One important facet of comprehension pertains to elements in the literary selection read by students. These elements include characterization, the story's setting, the theme of the story, and…

The four participants in this "conversation" make the case for better theory to support contemporary practice in assessment. The participants tell individual stories about problems in assessment and then explore the nature of measurement. As a whole, the conversation embodies reflection as a central value of assessment. The assessment…

Papers from two conferences explore efforts to meet rising expectations for higher education through fair and honest assessment. The papers from the 2000 conference are: (1) "A Conversation with Jorge Klor de Alva" (interviewed by Gail Mellow); (2) "Promoting Deep Learning through Teaching and Assessment" (Noel Entwistle); (3)…

The success of standards-based education systems depends on two elements: strong standards and assessments that measure what the standards expect. States that have, or adopt, test-based accountability programs claim that their tests are aligned to their standards. But there has been, up to now, no independent methodology for checking alignment.…

This booklet contains helpful hints and teaching tips to enable the teacher in grades 3 through 6 to move toward new instructional and assessment standards across the curriculum. Following an introduction, the chapters are: (1) "What Is Productive Instruction?"; (2) "Preparing for Productive Instruction"; (3) "Planning…

Tests and assessments are generally administered to gather data to aid in decision making, with at an individual student level or at an aggregated level. In order to incorporate assessment data in informed decision making, test users need to understand the test results. This chapter highlights the types of test scores and test score…

Using test results to improve instruction is vital to improving the education system, but equally important is to report results to other stakeholders. These stakeholders include the students who took the test, their parents or guardians, other parents in the school or district, the local school board, and the public at large. Effective reporting…

Computers are revolutionizing almost every aspect of society and testing is no exception. Delivering tests on a computer often improves exam security, testing efficiency, and scoring, and it often allows for measurement of knowledge, skills, and abilities that cannot be measured using traditional assessment formats. One of the most widely cited…

Academic institutions are caught in a position of needing continued commitment to assessment and yet dealing with strong faculty sentiment on the subject. This paper proposes that faculty assessment activity be re-conceptualized according to Ernest Boyer's (1990) "scholarship of teaching"--as a scholarly process whose products make a…

Great improvements in student learning can be facilitated if teachers and administrators set goals, work collaboratively, and keep track of student achievement data from many sources. Many examples are presented of schools and districts that have achieved both short- and long-term success. The seven chapters are: (1) "Effective…