Describes the efforts of the Chicago archdiocesan office of Catholic education to advertise its services throughout the Chicago area. Highlights the office's "Shareholder's Report," a local report card which was distributed through Catholic schools to all parents and which provided data about student achievement, costs, drop-out rates,…

A scheme is introduced for classifying assessment methods by using a mapping sentence and examples of three tasks from research methodology are provided along with their profiles (structures) based on the mapping sentence. An instrument to determine student assessment preferences is presented and explored. (SLD)

Describes dilemmas and solutions associated with teaching and assessing strategic reasoning. Emphasizes that learning to teach and assess strategic reasoning is a trail-and-error process requiring much reflection on the part of the teacher. Initiates discussions among teachers about dilemmas associated with teaching and assessing strategic…

Focuses on a technique called "Early Recollection of Reading and Writing" (ERRW) that provides teachers with the knowledge needed to help unlock and develop a student's potential in reading and writing. Presents the technique's theoretical basis and practical application and illustrates the critical role that this technique can play in…

Discusses the current state of alternative assessment programs, focusing on results of studies the authors conducted in two school districts. Shares implications for policy and for curriculum and instruction. (MG)

American indicator systems of educational accountability generally focus on student outcomes. The next generation of indicator systems must address wider issues, such as social context and values, curriculum assessment, structure of schooling, and individual student differences. Administrative, technical, political, and financial issues in…

Explores the meaning of understanding and the importance of teaching for understanding. Typical classrooms do not give sufficient presence to thoughtful engagement in understanding performance. How to teach for learning is reviewed, focusing on both teaching and assessment. The need for generative knowledge is discussed. (SLD)

A new procedure is proposed for generating instructionally relevant diagnostic feedback. The approach involves constructing a strong model of student proficiency and then testing whether individual students' observed item-response vectors are consistent with that model. The approach is applied to the Scholastic Assessment Test's verbal reasoning…

Provides a broad perspective on results-based performance measurement (RBPM). It describes the reasons for its growing popularity in government and outlines several of the key elements and considerations that must be included in the implementation of the RBPM system in the public sector. (Author)

Examines criteria for choosing between test-centered and examinee-centered methods of standard setting in empirical terms and in terms of whether the method is consistent with the model of achievement underlying test design and interpretation and the assessment methods being used. Contains 35 references. (Author/SLD)

Proposes four questions that need to be answered if learning is to be taken seriously for more than a season. They include determining what a degree or certification actually means, what the student has learned, how whole institutional communities can find time to address these issues, and who is responsible for educating children. (Author/JDM)

Links the literatures on human abilities and expertise, suggesting that human abilities are a form of developing expertise. Discusses the role of tests in a scheme that regards abilities as developing expertise and presents a model that implies a shift toward practice grounded in the development of knowledge-based expertise in all children.…

In Scotland, one "value added" (VA) indicator of secondary school effectiveness measures students' relative "progress" between Standard and Higher grade in particular subjects. When random nonschool factors affecting students' geography performance were computer-simulated to determine VA fluctuation over 25 years, the…

Describes the Nebraska Mathematics/Science Framework Project which used reflection and collaboration to develop a framework document that has been a significant motivator to enhance mathematics and science education in Nebraska. The end result is an articulated program of mathematics and science that is guiding other state efforts to improve…

Discussion of the practice in the United Kingdom of permitting disabled students to take an alternative form of assessment focuses on implications vis-a-vis assessment principles. It concludes that alternative assessments are compensatory in nature, violate the principles of assessment, and undermine the validity of assessment in higher education.…