Teachers stand at the intersection of educational goals, directing students down the road to success or to the byways of diminished opportunities. They are the most important school variable effecting student achievement. Consequently, placing and retaining only qualified and effective teachers in our nation's classrooms is a critical responsibility of school leaders. Effective supervision and evaluation requires that the school leader possess the knowledge of effective instruction, exhibit skills in documentation of professional conduct, and embrace a professional approach with the will to place and keep students at the center of school policy and practice decisions. Supervising and evaluating teachers is a difficult, but essential work. Research shows that time and expertise are necessary to effectively supervise and to build a case for adverse employment decisions, when necessary. Threading the Evaluation Needle: The Documentation of Teacher Unprofessional Conduct addresses the legal and professional knowledge that structures discipline and dismissal in the public schools. The authors, based on their educational, legal, and research experience, provide templates for various types of documentation necessary to effectively build a case for discipline. This book seeks to give principals the tools and knowledge to institute in good faith a fair and accurate documentation system.

Issues of access, social exclusion and widening participation dominate educational policy agendas and are a shared global challenge. Participation in higher education and adult lifelong learning activities can be a life-changing experience that opens up new opportunities. However, access remains unequal. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds, those living in the most deprived areas and people from minority ethnic groups are underrepresented. In this book, we focus on how we can move the field of widening participation forward, paying specific attention to the theories and methods we can use to better understand and tackle the problem of underrepresented groups in post-compulsory education, and how individuals and institutions can be supported. We argue that in order to make sense of these issues, it is important to engage in both the findings of widening participation research and the theoretical foundations which underpin them. This way, alternative perspectives on the widening participation agenda and emerging research and policy can be explored from alternative perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of Studies in Continuing Education.

Teacher Evaluation: Guide to Professional Practice is organized around four dominant, interrelated core issues: professional standards, a guide to applying the Joint Committee's Standards, ten alternative models for the evaluation of teacher performance, and an analysis of these selected models. The book draws heavily on research and development conducted by the Federally funded national Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE). The reader will come to grasp the essence of sound teacher evaluation and will be able to apply its principles, facts, ideas, processes, and procedures. Finally, the book invites and assists school professionals and other readers to examine the latest developments in teacher evaluation.

Comprised of contributions from distinguished education scholars, Teachers, Teaching, and Reform takes a critical look at evidence about systemic efforts to identify excellent teachers and promote excellent teaching practices. Organized to include diverse and often contrasting perspectives on the topic, this book provides insight into some of the most vexing historical issues affecting the policies that shape current reform initiatives focused on teachers, teaching, and educational outcomes. Educational scholars, policy makers, instructors, and graduate students will come away with a keen understanding of different perspectives about the assessment of teachers, teaching, and teacher education programs, as well as strategies for improving educational outcomes for students.

A comprehensive, nontechnical, engaging, look at how assessment is used to improve student learning and motivation. Drawing on recent research and new directions in the field, this concise, engaging book shows teachers how to use classroom assessment effectively for improving student learning and motivation. Key strategies and techniques are demonstrated through practical, realistic examples, suggestions, and case studies. The new edition emphasizes formative assessment and includes more in-depth coverage of self-assessment, the impact of standards-based accountability testing, 21st century knowledge, dispositions and skills, technology-enhanced items, and assessment of culturally diverse students. Each chapter provides aids to help readers learn and practice the skills of that chapter, including new Teacher Corners features illustrating actual teachers' thinking about classroom assessment, introductory case studies, chapter concept maps, new figures, suggestions for action research, self-instructional review exercises, and links to digital resources. Also available with MyLab Education Designed to bring learners more directly into the world of K-12 classrooms and to help them see the real and powerful impact of the assessment concepts covered in this book, MyLab (TM) Education provides practice using classroom assessment concepts in teaching situations, helps students and instructors see how well students understand the content, and helps students more deeply process assessment concepts and strategies and also better understand how to use those concepts as a teacher. The online resources in this MyLab include: Video Examples. Throughout the eText, embedded videos provide illustrations of sound assessment practices in action. Self-Check Assessments. Throughout the chapters, students will find self-check quizzes that help assess how well students have mastered chapter learning outcomes. The quizzes consist of self-grading multiple choice items that provide rationales, both for questions answered correctly and for questions answered incorrectly. Application Exercises. These scaffolded exercises, tied to learning outcomes, challenge learners to reflect on assessment and to apply what they have learned to real classroom assessment work. MyLab Education includes the Pearson eText version of the book. Note: This is the standalone ISBN and does not include access to MyLab Education. To order MyLab Education plus the book, use ISBN 0134522087.

This book examines important advances and offers a realistic image of the state of the art in student learning outcomes assessment in higher education-a field close to the core of nearly every higher education institution. Producing sound information on what students know and can do is critical to higher education practitioners and future social prosperity. Spanning international, national and institutional developments, the book presents methodological and empirical insights, highlights research challenges, and showcases the enormous progress made in recent years. The book will be of interest to researchers in education assessment and neighbouring fields, and stakeholders like institutional leaders, teachers and graduate employers looking for better insight on returns, governments searching for information to assist with funding and regulation, and members of the public wanting more clarity about outcomes and public investment. This book was originally published as a special issue of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

100 Ideas for Early Years Practitioners: Observation, Assessment & Planning is not only filled with easy to implement and practical ideas for the early years classroom, but it also demonstrates why assessment is an important formative tool to help further children's learning. In this book, early years expert and experienced author Marianne Sargent explains the cycle of observation, assessment and planning with advice on how to carry out different types of observation, guidance on how to make effective use of observations to assess children's knowledge and understanding, and explanations for how to use this information to inform future planning. The book also offers ideas on how to carry out summative assessments - as well as how to organise assessment information for reporting purposes. With the ever-increasing focus on observation, assessment and planning in the early years, this book is a must-have for all practitioners looking to effectively introduce all three into their setting while still ensuring the children in their care are in an environment where they can be confident, feel supported and still have fun as they grow and learn.

Environmental pragmatism is a new strategy in environmental thought. It argues that theoretical debates are hindering the ability of the environmental movement to forge agreement on basic policy imperatives. This new direction in environmental thought moves beyond theory, advocating a serious inquiry into the merits of moral pluralism. Environmental pragmatism, as a coherent philosophical position, connects the methodology of classical American pragmatic thought to the explanation, solution and discussion of real issues.
This concise, well-focused collection is the first comprehensive presentation of environmental pragmatism as a new philosophical approach to environmental thought and policy.

Despite feedback's demonstratively positive effects on student performance, research on the specific components of successful feedback practice is in short supply. In Using Feedback to Improve Learning, Ruiz-Primo and Brookhart offer critical characteristics of feedback strategies to affirm classroom feedback's positive effect on student learning. The book provides pre- and in-service teachers as well as educational researchers with empirically supported techniques for using feedback as a part of formative assessment in the classroom.

This book presents the results of a four-year, National Science Foundation-funded project that engaged nine high school biology teachers at three public high schools in long-term, on-site professional development program centered on a learning progression. It explores the influence of teacher participation in this professional development experience on their learning about student thinking, formative assessment task design, classroom practices, and student learning. Taking an in-depth look at the multiple sources of data gathered as part of the study, this volume reflects on the emergence of professional communities focused on formative assessment design and enactments and associations between teacher participation in learning progression-centered professional development and student learning.

Includes online access to new, customizable WJ IV score tables, graphs, and forms for clinicians Woodcock-Johnson IV: Reports, Recommendations, and Strategies offers psychologists, clinicians, and educators an essential resource for preparing and writing psychological and educational reports after administering the Woodcock-Johnson IV. Written by Drs. Nancy Mather and Lynne E. Jaffe, this text enhances comprehension and use of this instrument and its many interpretive features. This book offers helpful information for understanding and using the WJ IV scores, provides tips to facilitate interpretation of test results, and includes sample diagnostic reports of students with various educational needs from kindergarten to the postsecondary level. The book also provides a wide variety of recommendations for cognitive abilities; oral language; and the achievement areas of reading, written language, and mathematics. It also provides guidelines for evaluators and recommendations focused on special populations, such as sensory impairments, autism, English Language Learners, and gifted and twice exceptional students, as well as recommendations for the use of assistive technology. The final section provides descriptions of the academic and behavioral strategies mentioned in the reports and recommendations. The unique access code included with each book allows access to downloadable, easy-to-customize score tables, graphs, and forms. This essential guide * Facilitates the use and interpretation of the WJ IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Tests of Oral Language, and Tests of Achievement * Explains scores and various interpretive features * Offers a variety of types of diagnostic reports * Provides a wide variety of educational recommendations and evidence-based strategies

This book shares the collective experience of integrating electronic portfolios as assessment tools and as instruments for life-long learning in courses across various disciplines in higher education. It enables readers to trace the evolution of e-portfolios over the last ten years and to deal with the challenges faced by instructors and students when implementing e-portfolios in their respective courses. Further, the book suggests flexible ways of dealing with those challenges. It also highlights the relevance of electronic portfolios for the needs and demands of contemporary societies. As such, it speaks to a large target audience from a range of disciplines, roles and geographical contexts within the wider context of higher education in Asia and around the globe.

"Educational Testing" provides support for those undertaking training in, and for training providers of, the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (CCET) (Level A). Developed by the British Psychological Society, the CCET aims to meet a need for standards for the use of tests in education in the UK, to encourage responsible test use by psychologists and non-psychologists alike.

Written by the designers of the certificate and endorsed by the BPS's Steering Committee on Test Standards, "Educational Testing" is the only book of its kind available.
Covers the 71 elements of the CCET in detail and acts as a 'course text' for those in training
Describes each core competence
Provides model answers and examples
Offers an indication of the range of ways in which the core competences may be assessed by the assessor, based upon the BPS's existing Guidance for Assessors document
Contains appendices offering guidance on BPS standards, a glossary of technical terms, useful websites and online resources, and test publishers' addresses.

Recent legislation - the 1981 and 1993 Education Acts - have emphasized the need for parents to work as partners with professionals in the assessment of children's special educational needs. This book explores that notion of partnership and subjects it to critical scrutiny. It describes the assessment process from both the parental and professional standpoints, looking in particular at the parent-professional relationship and the barriers that might inhibit effective partnerships between parents and professionals. The child's viewpoint is equally important, and later chapters examine children's own accounts of the assessment process.

Preparing Students for College and Careers addresses measurement and research issues related to college and career readiness. Educational reform efforts across the United States have increasingly taken aim at measuring and improving postsecondary readiness. These initiatives include developing new content standards, redesigning assessments and performance levels, legislating new developmental education policy for colleges and universities, and highlighting gaps between graduates' skills and employers' needs. In this comprehensive book, scholarship from leading experts on each of these topics is collected for assessment professionals and for education researchers interested in this new area of focus. Cross-disciplinary chapters cover the current state of research, best practices, leading interventions, and a variety of measurement concepts, including construct definitions, assessments, performance levels, score interpretations, and test uses. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Standardized tests have become the gateway to higher education . . . but should they be? For more than seventy-five years, standardized tests have been considered a vital tool for gauging students' readiness for college. However, few people-including students, parents, teachers, and policy makers-understand how tests like the SAT or ACT are used in admissions decisions. Once touted as the best way to compare students from diverse backgrounds, these tests are now increasingly criticized as being biased in favor of traditionally privileged groups. A small but growing number of colleges have made such testing optional for applicants. Is this the right way to go? Measuring Success investigates the research and policy implications of test-optional practices, considering both sides of the debate. Does a test-optional policy result in a more diverse student body or improve attainment and retention rates? Drawing upon the expertise of higher education researchers, admissions officers, enrollment managers, and policy professionals, this volume is among the first to investigate the research and policy implications of test-optional practices. Although the test-optional movement has received ample attention, its claims have rarely been subjected to empirical scrutiny. This volume provides a much-needed evaluation of the use and value of standardized admissions tests in an era of widespread grade inflation. It will be of great value to those seeking to strike the proper balance between uniformity and fairness in higher education. Contributors: Andrew S. Belasco, A. Emiko Blalock, William G. Bowen, Jim Brooks, Matthew M. Chingos, James C. Hearn, Michael Hurwitz, Jonathan Jacobs, Nathan R. Kuncel, Jason Lee, Jerome A. Lucido, Eric Maguire, Krista Mattern, Michael S. McPherson, Kelly O. Rosinger, Paul R. Sackett, Edgar Sanchez, Dhruv B. Sharma, Emily J. Shaw, Kyle Sweitzer, Roger J. Thompson, Meredith Welch, Rebecca Zwick

Recent legislation - the 1981 and 1993 Education Acts - have emphasized the need for parents to work as partners with professionals in the assessment of children's special educational needs. This book explores that notion of partnership and subjects it to critical scrutiny. It describes the assessment process from both the parental and professional standpoints, looking in particular at the parent-professional relationship and the barriers that might inhibit effective partnerships between parents and professionals. The child's viewpoint is equally important, and later chapters examine children's own accounts of the assessment process.

Teacher Evaluation in Music: A Guide for Music Teachers in the U. S. aims to help music teachers navigate the controversial terrain of teacher evaluation. Rather than entering the debate on policy divorced from practice, this book is intended as a pragmatic approach to help music teachers to thrive within teacher evaluation systems and as a way to improve practice. Using Shulman's concept of content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge, this book strives to help music teachers find a balance between advocating for themselves and their programs and for using teacher evaluation to improve their teaching. The book covers history of policy and law of teacher evaluation and the competing uses of teacher evaluation to rate teachers or as a professional development tool. The descriptions of policies, laws, and competing uses are approached in a way to help music teachers use teacher evaluation for their benefit to grow as professionals. This book has chapters devoted to giving detailed and specific strategies in key areas that research has suggested music teachers struggle to implement: questioning, literacy, differentiated instruction, and assessment. Complimenting these key areas are sample lesson plans which apply the strategies of questioning, differentiation, literacy, and assessment discussed in each chapter. These lessons serve as a resource and guide for teachers to develop their own lessons and improve their practice. The final chapter gives guidance on how music teachers may talk to administrators and evaluators to make teacher evaluation productive. Through these detailed descriptions of understanding teacher evaluation, talking to evaluators, and improving practice, music teachers may not just survive but thrive in these systems of accountability.

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Providing insight into the background, theory and practical applications of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Transforming Higher Education through Universal Design for Learning: An International Perspective examines and shares best practice in UDL implementation worldwide to provide strategies for strengthening student accessibility, engagement and learning outcomes through the development of flexible learning environments. Drawing upon insightful, research-based contributions from educators and student service specialists in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Spain, the UK and all across the USA, this book: considers diversity in the form of disability, minority ethnic groups, gender identities, first generation university students and varying socio-economic backgrounds; brings together key thinkers and actors in the field of UDL and expertly maps its practices to the higher educational domain; explores the multiple means of representation, expression and engagement that combine to create a successful UDL framework. Each chapter not only provides a different perspective of how UDL has helped meet the needs of all students to ensure that education is accessible, culturally responsive and socially just, but also considers how this can then be implemented into higher education environments the world over. This book is a crucial read for those who want to make a positive difference in higher education provision and outcomes.

Helps learners understand how they can improve student achievement by integrating instruction and assessment. Learners should understand and be able to do the following assessment tasks upon completingStudent-Involved Assessment FOR Learning: (1) establish clear learning targets as the basis for instruction and assessment, (2) select assessment methods that align with those learning targets, (3) select and/or create high-quality assessments that accurately measure student progress to the learning targets, (4) clearly communicate assessment results to learners for both formative and summative purposes, and (5) involve students in the assessment process to develop their capabilities to be self-directed learners. Note: This is the standalone book

Departments and language programs often are asked to evaluate the efficacy of their own programs and make curricular decisions on the basis of evidence. This guide, designed to help language educators meet the needs of program evaluation and assessment often requested by their institutions, provides step-by-step advice to help language educators conduct evaluation and assessment and to show how it can lead to meaningful programmatic decisions and change. With discussions about evaluation planning, advice for selecting data-collection tools, explanations for data analysis, examples based on actual evaluations, and more, this book provides everything you need to complete a successful language program evaluation that will give educators useful data on which to base curricular decisions. This short book is practical and timely and will find an audience in instructors of all languages and all levels.