High school job training programs are useful to the students enrolled in them. If such programs are to be even more effective, they should provide the students with more experience, more information about related jobs, and up-to-date tools. (Author)

A nationwide examination of school report cards produced 10 categories of often-reported information: standardized testing, student engagement, school success, school environment, staffing and teacher characteristics, program offerings, school facilities, student services, student background characteristics, and school finances. Reports should be…

Research shows that learning efficiency increases by building on prior knowledge and using multiple assessment tools. Powerful learning environments start with authentic problems and build knowledge through cooperative learning. Informal assessments integrated with assessments of prior knowledge identify further educational approaches. (SK)

This study reviewed non-school internship centers that indicated they would consider applications from school psychology doctoral students. School psychology interns devoted the majority of their time to individual and group counseling and psychotherapy and assessment and were perceived as having strengths in educational and psychological…

Discusses the need to adopt a strategically guided model for community college research that changes the basis for assessment from institutional performance in a commoditized market to institutional advantage in a turbulent market. Focuses on how research data can be generated and used to achieve an advantage by differentiating one institution…

Data from interviews with Australian training providers, employers, community organizations, and trainees were analyzed thematically and assessed against quality assurance standards for apprentices/trainees ("vocational learning checkpoints"). Results reflect many of the problems addressed by the checkpoints in the areas of…

Provides comprehensive information about new developments in the field of educational quality evaluation in Europe. Focuses on the most important international documents adopted and signed by the European authorities responsible for higher education--the Sorbonne and the Bologna Declarations, and the Prague Communique. Analyzes follow-up…

This paper discusses ways to evaluate processes, describes methods of gathering information, and presents an outline for developing a continuous improvement model. Such assessment tools, as opposed to traditional "satisfaction surveys," can examine the service process and provide institutions with useful information to use as a catalyst for change…

Compared simplified variations on the Angoff and Bookmark methods for setting cut scores on educational assessments with data from a grade 7 mathematics test (23 panelists in all). Although the Angoff method is more widely used, results show that the Bookmark method has some promising features. (SLD)

Describes an assessment scheme in Hong Kong and investigates the degree of implementation of school-based assessment for practical science. Identifies five dimensions of implementation and uses three measuring instruments: (1) a student questionnaire; (2) a teacher questionnaire and (3) an observation schedule. Comparative analyses resulted in…

Argues that the key distinction of a situated approach to studying intelligent behavior is not the method used but the focus of the investigation, specifically the unit of analysis. Discusses contemporary approaches to assessment, collaborative problem solving as an assessment context, situated assessment, intentional dynamics, and interaction as…

Explores the relationship between academic assessment and assessment of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) for health professionals in Britain. Examines the relationship between competence and excellence or expertise and the development of reflective practitioners. Raises concerns about using NVQs in professional occupations. (SK)

Explores specific features of present evaluation practices in higher education that could render them capable of resolving the contradiction in purposes between accountability and institutional improvement. Also explores particular features of institution-level "good practice" in the use of information that external quality-assurance…

Reports on a study of Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspection reports for Norfolk (England) state secondary schools. Analyzes the reports and concludes that inconsistencies in inspectors' reporting, particularly of spirituality across the broader curriculum, meant that the mechanisms for assessment and for raising standards were…