While assessment is the bread and butter of the teaching profession, its practitioners usually do not extend analysis of test responses beyond simple measures such as facility or discrimination indices in classical test theory. Item response theory (IRT) has much to offer but its nonintuitive content and difficulty make it a formidable obstacle in…

This set of mini-lessons contains staff meeting activities to help a school's staff understand large-scale standards-based assessment and promote student achievement through improved classroom assessment practice. These lessons contain a clear statement of what teachers need to know and be able to do with respect to student assessment. They…

This book describes how examinations and national assessments can be used to encourage more pedgaogically sound teaching and learning. It provides concrete examples of ways to measure student learning and describes how to develop, score, and interpret tests to ensure that they are valid, reliable, and fair to all children. It offers techniques and…

This Digest examines school districts' efforts to reap the greatest benefit from smaller classes. Although the report discusses teaching strategies that are most effective in small classes, research has shown that teachers do not significantly change their teaching practices when they move from larger to smaller classes. Smaller classes mean…

The educational beliefs of seven mechanical engineering faculty members at one university were examined in the context of their department and the history of the engineering education. Participants were selected to cover the demographic range across the department. Each of the faculty members was interviewed and observed at two points over the…

To get a valid picture of program impact via comprehensive data collection, combined with a focus on standards, an evaluation of a professional development program for elementary and secondary level teachers of science was carried out at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This paper presents selected examples from the program evaluation, designed…

This book provides a comprehensive and practical resource for raising the expectations and level of instruction for gifted minority students. The volume contains case studies of multicultural gifted education in practice, suggests methods for "best practice" for classroom teachers, supplies sample activities, and provides guidelines and a…

This paper reviews literature on teacher effectiveness and evaluation. In order for teacher evaluation to be effective in terms of improving teacher performance, it has to be formative. Evaluations also can contribute to the improvement of the performance of the school overall. Teacher evaluation also has effects on the environment outside the…

This guide is an evaluation that can help one answer relevant questions about improving a reading or language arts program such as: Are there changes that need to be made? Is a stronger commitment needed to strengths identified in the program? and Are specific resources needed to make it more successful? The manual points out that if an improved…

This longitudinal study followed 10 beginning teachers from their last year of preservice education into their first two years of full-time teaching. Using sociocultural theory as a theoretical framework, it describes how these teachers appropriated a set of pedagogical tools for teaching writing. Data sources included approximately five…

Spelling words correctly in a separate subject curriculum is a rare procedure of learning today. However, correct spelling of words harmonizes well with the behaviorally stated objectives movement in that either a word is spelled correctly or incorrectly. Standardized and criterion referenced tests (CRTs) stress precise learnings in that machine…

This paper discusses the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in college teaching, especially for the teacher who is new to teaching with CMC. In part, it offers a personal narrative of how the author developed use of CMC in his teaching. It discusses the nature of CMC as a medium of communication and introduces the teacher to many…

This document consists of the four 1999 issues of a quarterly newsletter publication on gifted education. Issues regularly include major articles, book reviews, announcements, and letters. The major articles in these issues are: "The Mathematically Gifted: Bridging the Gender Gap" (Lynn H. Fox and Janet F. Soller); "Parenting for Education:…

This paper discusses two pitfalls in designing project work. The first is a tendency to design projects with little emphasis on how the subject matter might connect to future studies. The second involves processes and goals of project work: all too often the processes proposed for project work serve goals that are nonexistent, weak, or unrelated…

This book is one of four books in the Science-by-Design Series created by TERC and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This series presents directed instruction on how to successfully formulate and carry out product design. Students learn and apply concepts in science and technology to design and build a pair of insulated gloves, a…