Developed and evaluated an assessment of orthographic knowledge designed to help teachers interpret children's spellings for instruction and to advance understanding of how children acquire knowledge of words. Reliability and validity studies with 1,016 urban and rural elementary school students support the use of the Developmental Spelling…

Explores the assessment and improvement of educational programs and administrative services at metropolitan colleges and universities through the primary academic unit the department. Discusses the development of intended student outcomes and administrative objectives; also identifies issues related to implementing assessment at the department…

Claims fundamental educational reforms of the past 10 years in the United Kingdom lack a strong sense of rationale. Discusses seven areas where a clear, broad vision of the purpose of education can serve as a guide in taking education policy and practice forward. (NH)

Examines dilemmas of educational accountability and why large-scale assessment of student achievement has come to dominate educational reform policy. Provides a brief history of large-scale assessment in education in Canada. Looks at both expected and unexpected consequences of large-scale assessment and calls for educators and politicians to…

School systems have recently experienced a dramatic shift toward the use of large-scale assessment to improve school performance. Discusses the ways in which external assessment may benefit education, the need for multiple measures of various dimensions of school success, and guidelines for using assessment to create a dynamic cycle of continuous…

Traces the major historical milestones achieved by Nova Southeastern University in its pioneering of graduate level online learning programs. Highlights include delivery systems; Web-based electronic classrooms; overview of the technology, including telecommunications through UNIX; evaluation and research; and technology used in the School of…

Accountability has become synonymous with standardized testing in many Western countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. Schools and districts are increasingly ranked based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing measures possess a number of limitations that…

Whilst there is evidence of significant investment in policy-led initiatives to raise attainment in schools, there is rather less evidence of the positive impact of such initiatives. In this paper we explore stakeholder views of recent initiatives in assessment in Scotland in an attempt to discern the relationships between assessment policy,…

Portfolios, a term derived from the carrying case of paintings or drawings that artists present as proof of their talents, are collections of student work. With the nationwide efforts to raise graduation standards and the increasing use of standardized testing, the idea of basing promotion and graduation decisions on portfolios of students' work…

This chapter addresses the opportunities and challenges of using alumni research in Spain.

Since their first appearance in 1983, the "U.S. News & World Report" rankings of colleges and graduate schools have generated much debate. This article takes a closer look at the "U.S. News" ranking formulas and finds an empirical basis for critics' concerns. The article begins with an overview of the rankings, followed by a discussion of the…

The globalization of higher education has resulted in a number of British institutions applying for American accreditation. In 2002, the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education admitted its first American member. All these institutions must therefore confront the need to satisfy two very different approaches to the assurance of quality…

Peter Tymms has written recently ("BERJ", August 2004) on the subject of measuring whether standards are rising in English and mathematics in primary schools based on pupil outcomes from national end of key stage tests. This article takes the position that the performance data debate is an interesting one but peripheral to a far bigger…

The "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" have evolved in the breadth and depth of coverage of issues in educational testing and measurement since their first publication in 1954. There were a number of substantive changes in the 1999 revision that addressed validity, fairness, accommodations, and compliance with the…

This paper explores how student reflection on assessment procedures is a necessary part of the learning experience, and how such reflection can be supported in our teaching practices. Attention is paid to how discussion and analysis of assessment practices can be prioritized in the opening stages of a course. Further exploration reveals the…