A sequential-touching task was used to investigate whether 14-month-old infants can rapidly change how they categorize a set of objects, recognizing new groupings of objects they had previously categorized in a different way. When presented with a collection of objects that could be categorized by shape (balls vs. blocks) or material (soft vs.…

The authors conducted a systematic review of studies examining correlations between assessments of function not obtained using self-report and those obtained using performance-based measures for community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Articles for this review were identified using electronic searching in MEDLINE, CINHAL, and AGELINE and…

The authors describe how a university research center partners with intermediary organizations and high schools to use research methods to support particular goals. These researcher-practitioner partnerships establish goals, articulate effective strategies, and co-construct new approaches to address the challenges of school reform. The article…

This paper discusses the online Personal Learning Planner (PLP) project underway at the National Institute of Community Innovations (NICI), one of the partners in the Teacher Education Network (TEN), a 2000 PT3 Catalyst grantee. The Web-based PLP provides a standards-linked "portfolio space" for both works in progress and demonstration collections…

Web-based courses are promising in that they are effective and have the possibility of their instructional design being improved over time. However, the assessments of said courses are criticized in terms of their validity. This paper is an exploratory case study regarding the validity of the assessment system used in a semi presential web-based…

Noting that assessment plays a prominent role in all levels of the American educational system, this report characterizes the realities of reading assessment and its historical evolution. The report then characterizes possible approaches to shaping the future of reading assessment--resistance, complacency, and reform. The report considers the…

The urgency to enhance the quality of science education for all of the nation's children and youth increases as we approach the next century. To address some of the issues and to obtain insight from a variety of sources regarding the problems facing educators in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education, a Summer Symposium was…

This study presents psychometric characteristics of the mathematics problem solving performance assessment used in the Minneapolis Public Schools, focusing on the interrater reliability, scoring reliability, and validity of the assessment. The Minneapolis Math Problem Solving Assessment (MPSA) was established in 1991. Students are asked to solve…

This guide is intended to help project directors, coordinators, and other professional staff involved in developing and delivering workplace education programs do the following: understand the confidential nature of workplace education skills assessments and recommended measures in dealing with confidentiality; differentiate between the various…

Noting that effective teaching of language arts requires commitment to excellence on the part of classroom teachers, the goal of this book is to provide support, motivation, and knowledge for the classroom teacher who is responsible for the effective teaching of all children. Each chapter in the book contains features geared to the development of…

Standardized testing, usually in the form of a multiple choice test, has dominated educational reform throughout Mississippi for the past 2 decades. Because of the minimal impact that standardized testing has traditionally had on curriculum decisions and classroom instruction, a paradigm shift in assessment format was adopted in the State from a…

The collaborative efforts of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory have resulted in the State Student Assessment Program (SSAP) database. Information is collected annually about student assessment programs in each state, both in the area of traditional testing and in nontraditional…

The usefulness of authentic assessments as formative tools for teachers is well documented and supported. However, when educational institutions use these assessments as summative tools for evaluating programs and meeting accountability needs, several problems emerge. One set of problems relates to the difficulty of fitting authentic assessments…

There is a considerable interest at Educational Testing Service (ETS) to include performance-based, natural language constructed-response items on standardized tests. Such items can be developed, but the projected time and costs required to have these items scored by human graders would be prohibitive. In order for ETS to include these types of…

During a period when the reform-minded are very critical of the degree to which testing is actually related to the conditions for which data are employed, authentic assessment offers the opportunity to evaluate learning in settings closely related to the real world. It also allows the evaluator to tailor assessment conditions for individual…