Preparing this article posthumously from Choppin's presentation notes, the author used the historical development of thermometry to suggest some lessons for educational measurement: (1) mathematical models are important; (2) models can be useful long before their underlying processes are understood; and (3) since there are no true models, there…

Discusses various assumptions about excellence in education: (1) excellence must be imposed on the educational establishment by those who are outside education; (2) test scores are the best indications of excellence; and (3) American education will become excellent only if we adopt a common core of academic subjects that all students must…

Exploring ontological, epistemological, and conceptual questions of his work, the author discusses three essential issues: interpreting meaning, the interpretive paradigm and the generalizability of findings, and instruction versus assessment. (MD)

This paper discusses the use of ontologies and their applications to assessment. An ontology provides a shared and common understanding of a domain that can be communicated among people and computational systems. The ontology captures one or more experts' conceptual representation of a domain expressed in terms of concepts and the relationships…

This book takes the mystery and confusion out of assessment by reframing its purpose in student evaluation and learning by providing teachers and school and district administrators with mechanisms for the effective use of assessment, real-life examples and case studies, sample rubrics and lesson plans, and a discussion of the changing role of…

This discussion of the challenges associated with contemporary assessments opens with the description of an assessment grid. The grid, which contains 11 dimensions on which assessments may vary and examples of its use, form the first third of the book. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, two international studies, and the Kentucky…

In educational assessment, educators observe what students say, do, or make in a few particular circumstances and attempt to infer what they know, can do, or have accomplished more generally. A web of inference connects the two. Some connections depend on theories and experience concerning the targeted knowledge in the domain, how it is acquired,…

Educational assessment is reasoning from observations of what students do or make in a handful of particular circumstances, to what they know or can do more broadly. Practice has changed a great deal over the past century, in response to evolving conceptions of knowledge and its acquisition, views of schooling and its purposes, and technologies…

In the schools, the primary clients are the students. Other clients include parents, citizens, the community, and educators--all stakeholders in the processes and the products of schools. Professionals in administrative, instructional, and student services are committed to serving these internal and external clients by providing for offerings and…

Good assessment is key to providing effective intervention, and thoughtful interpretation of assessment results is an important part of the intervention. This chapter focuses on the consultant and service recipient in the test interpretation process, including ways to help all participants in this process. In addition, case examples illustrate the…

Tasks are the most visible element in an educational assessment. Their purpose, however, is to provide evidence about targets of inference that cannot be directly seen at all: what examinees know and can do, more broadly conceived than can be observed in the context of any particular set of tasks. This paper concerns issues in an assessment design…

This book examines the ways that mainstream leadership thinking does and does not apply to departments and teams in higher education institutions. It offers a way of looking at the practice of leading rather than presenting a selection of tools or tips, and it contains extensive practical advice. The chapters are: (1) "Changing"; (2) "Leadership…

Assessment and accountability are embedded in the context in which most colleges and universities operate. In the current climate, one is deeply entwined with the other. Originally, assessment in higher education meant assessing students. The broader appeal of the concept quickly claimed the attention of a multitude of constituents within the…

College students in introductory sociology courses took an examination containing items from test manuals which accompany high school texts. Although students who had taken a high school sociology course did significantly better than those who had not, scores for both groups were rather low. (Author/RM)

This investigation is a meta-level inquiry, an inquiry into the scope and procedures of inquiry in vocational education research. It is also an exercise in reflexive thinking about that research enterprise. (SSH)