This paper describes the development and evolution of a modular pharmacy practice course that uses practitioners as role-model instructors in prepared and impromptu scenarios. The course reviews the top 200 drug products while introducing students to both community and institutional practice settings. Appendices include a summary of the…

Examines the consequences of assigning student grades using test-score averaging on course materials, tests, and learning. Proposes an alternative method of grading based on progressive improvement by the student that emphasizes the learning of concepts. (MDH)

Reviews a case that vindicates the principle of judicial noninterference in academic evaluation of students. Describes the strategy of the lawyers who represented the academic institution. Discusses alternative approaches for serving the competing values at stake in grading decisions. (52 footnotes) (MLF)

Describes assessment in the German school system as regular, systematic, and officially controlled through legislation. Emphasizes that even strict grading levels combine criterion and norm referencing because teacher determination must include a subjective element. Concludes that other systems may best learn negative lessons from the German…

The principal is uniquely positioned to help teachers plan for instruction, especially in the areas of student evaluation and grading. One approach is conducting inservice programs to promote an evaluation-based model of teacher planning incorporating both the objectives- and activities-based planning models. Teachers can then match assessment…

Teachers' merit pay and students' grades depend on valid evaluations and are functions of many factors besides the quality of work being evaluated. If individual merit cannot be validly determined as a basis for rewards, then there is not a fair system of merit rewards for teachers and students. (SM)

Research findings suggest that teachers are not competent in student assessment and that teacher education programs do not provide adequate training in assessment techniques. A survey of 33 Canadian universities found that most prospective teachers did not complete a measurement and evaluation course. Contains 44 references. (SV)

Investigates the empirical relationships between student ratings of teachers and student-reported performance. Finds that students discriminate between sociability and qualification-related aspects of teacher performance and that student ratings were not the product of "easy" grading practices. (SR)

Descriptive statistics of grading scales used in 371 Virginia high schools are discussed in light of the admissions decisions at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. An analysis of the effect of grading scales on admissions decisions is presented. Nontraditional analysis is recommended as an alternative for interpreting the complex…

Describes a writing assignment in which students from two different first-year composition classes evaluated and graded each other's papers. Discusses how this established a genuine audience, empowered students, and generated enthusiasm. (SR)

To address concerns that college students do not develop adequate oral communication skills, guidelines are offered to faculty for designing oral presentation assignments within their courses, developing grading criteria, guiding students in their preparation for speaking, and addressing some of the unique challenges of this process, which include…

Offers a framework for approaching evaluation of practical experience, specifically in the field of elementary school teacher education, arguing that such evaluation should be longitudinal, contextualized, and collaborative. Portfolio development is found to be a powerful tool in this process, and both a rubric and criteria for assessing…

Staff at a Sandy Hook, Connecticut high school agreed that content standards are fixed learning goals specifying what a student should know and accomplish; performance standards describe student work products (criteria) to meet these goals. Forthright expectations increased students' accountability for quality work, improved grading objectivity,…

Describes the use in business-communication classes of Team Learning, an approach to teaching in which students spend approximately 80% of their in-class time working in permanent, heterogeneous teams, becoming active and responsible participants in the learning process. Describes the instructional activity sequence, getting started, forming the…

Discusses the practice of grade repetition in French schools, indicating that repetition is not beneficial to the pupil concerned. Notes that countries that have abandoned grade repetition have not suffered a lowering of educational standards, nor have they incurred extra costs, and describes ways to achieve this end. Contains 11 references. (EMH)