Librarians at Washington State University Vancouver helped the campus develop a method of assessing its General Education Program, a program based on university learning goals, one of which is information literacy. The assessment method, which relies on an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) along with rubrics to evaluate work in the ePortfolio,…

In this study, we analyzed the quality of students' written scientific explanations found in notebooks and explored the link between the quality of the explanations and students' learning. We propose an approach to systematically analyzing and scoring the quality of students' explanations based on three components: claim, evidence to support it,…

Capstone courses have been increasingly offered in Taiwan. This paper explored their assessment approaches and issues. Authentic assessment and project competition were found widely adopted and the following two issues were identified: (1) The assessment rubrics employed should be enriched and improved; and (2) Assessment fairness on the extent…

While the move to anchored scales has been an improvement in the standardization of field performance evaluation, these tools have not been found to consistently discriminate among student performances or identify students experiencing clinical difficulties. This article presents two efforts to redress this problem. The use of a new practice-based…

A foodservice distributor in the southeastern United States implemented a voice assisted selecting tool to reduce selector errors by providing immediate feedback when errors occurred. An AB design with a nonequivalent comparison group was used to examine the effects of the voice technology on 132 selectors whose mispicks and shorts were collected…

This article will first provide an overview of the transition assessment process in terms of the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and the basic tenets of the process. The second section will provide an overview of the methods of gathering assessment information on the student and on the living,…

As the field of education moves forward in the area of assessment, researchers have yet to come to a conclusion about definitions of commonly used terms. Without a consensus on the use of fundamental terms, it is difficult to engage in meaningful discourse within the field of assessment, as well as to conduct research on and communicate about best…

Along with discussion of format and design of electronic portfolios, this article addresses the larger question of what happens to teachers when they invest in creating a professional portfolio. Are they able to transform this experience into more authentic assessment with their own students? Beside acquiring proficiency in using portfolio…

The purpose of this paper is to enumerate a series of security steps that might be taken by those individuals or organizations that are contemplating Web-based tests and performance assessments. From a security viewpoint, much of what goes on with Web-based transactions is similar to other general computer activity, but the recommendations focus…

Causes of local item dependence in a large-scale performance assessment were studied using data from the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. Contextual characteristics (content and response requirements) were identified to differentiate locally independent and dependent item clusters. Hypothesized explanations are offered for high…

Describes a new managerial approach to assessing public relations/communications (PR/C) performance using a "balanced scorecard." Reviews the current state of PR/C management assessment; illustrates the balanced scorecard framework; highlights its strengths and weaknesses; describes the process of applying the scorecard to PR/C units;…

Investigated sex differences in response to evaluative feedback among bank employees going through the annual performance evaluation process. Surveys of employees before and after their face-to-face evaluations indicated that men's self-esteem was relatively unaffected by the nature of the feedback, while women's slightly improved after positive…

A consistent finding of teachers using authentic assessment is how much they learn from the process and their students. Authentic assessment depends upon independence, mastery of content, and a willingness to engage students in real-life experiences. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/JOW)

Describes several lessons learned from the design and implementation of a performance-measurement system required by the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. For example, very complex systems of performance measurement can compromise the quality and quantity of data obtained. Makes several recommendations to improve the quality of such…

Performance assessment was once the only method of educational evaluation; then multiple-choice tests proliferated. Renewed interest in assessment brings these cautions: (1) use for most critical outcomes; (2) use technology; (3) involve students as raters; (4) note student behaviors; and (5) restrict to program-level indicators. (SK)