Background: A recent article published in "Educational Research" on the reliability of results in National Curriculum testing in England (Newton, "The reliability of results from national curriculum testing in England," "Educational Research" 51, no. 2: 181-212, 2009) suggested that: (1) classification accuracy can be…

Data can serve as a powerful tool to ensure equity for students: if educators examine data through the lens of social justice, they will reveal success stories and wounds. At the author's former school, Nipher Middle School in Saint Louis, Missouri, the wounds of previous data-driven decisions were real. Using a social justice lens to examine…

This paper focuses on formative assessment in the field of higher education. It examines Bernstein's work on vertical discourses and knowledge structures with the view to deepening understanding of the concept of assessment "for" learning. The first part of the paper draws on Vygotsky's work on concept development and Bernstein's work on…

Due to the high-stakes nature of medical exams it is prudent for test agencies to critically evaluate test data and control for potential threats to validity. For the typical multiple station performance assessments used in medicine, it may take time for examinees to become comfortable with the test format and administrative protocol. Since each…

Grading is one of the primary venues of teaching. In this article, the author shares his experience of grading papers. He alleges that the hardest papers to grade are those where nothing is really "wrong" with the prose or the argument, where everything is "sort of" correct but nothing is vivid, nothing quite original. Students must learn in time…

The purpose of this study was to compare growth in student achievement of students in a classroom where the assessment for learning process was either absent from or present in a teacher's practices, and to gather the teacher's and students' perceptions of the benefits and barriers related to growth in student achievement when the…

Scott Jaschik's (2010) article "Who Really Failed?" details the experience of Dominique Homberger, a tenured faculty member at Louisiana State University (LSU) who was removed from teaching her introductory biology course citing student complaints in regards to "the extreme nature" of the grading policy. This removal has…

For nearly 40 years, AACRAO has published the Self-Assessment, and this 185-page update will provide a cost effective and simple way to evaluate your office operations by stimulating thought, encouraging self-reflection, and evaluating policies and procedures. The Assessment is arranged by topical area with chapters addressing most basic registrar…

Educators work within a fluid academic and social landscape that requires frequent examination and re-examination of what constitutes ethical practice. In this book, editors R. Eric Landrum and Maureen McCarthy identify four broad areas of concern in the ethical teaching of undergraduate psychology: pedagogy, student behavior, faculty behavior…

This Information Capsule answers the most frequently asked questions about M-DCPS' academic performance during the 2011-2012 school year. Over the past year, the Florida Department of Education made over 28 changes to the school grading formula, including the transition to new, more rigorous assessments, new accountability components, and…

While measurement precision is relatively easy to establish for single tests and assessments, it is much more difficult to determine for decision making with multiple tests on different subjects. This latter is the situation in the system of final examinations for secondary education in the Netherlands and is used as an example in this paper. This…

Educational commentators have offered many pedagogical rationales for using Web 2.0 to support learning in higher education, and academics are being encouraged to find ways for their students to use social web technologies. Questions arise as to the value of these activities compared to more conventional assignments, and whether implementing such…

Teach well. Be happy. In this book, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, author of the popular education blog "Tweenteacher" shares ideas for teaching an age group that too often presents a challenge for educators. With sparkling humor and a unique, fundamental understanding of the middle children of education, the award-winning teacher offers tried-and-true…

The use of team projects has been shown to be beneficial in higher education. There is also general agreement that team efforts should be assessed and that the grading ought to represent both (1) the quality of the product developed jointly by the team, as well as (2) the degree of participation and quality of contribution by each individual…