The subject of accountability warrants thoughtful and dispassionate attention in today's educational environment. The accountability and school reform policies that are put in place today will have wide-ranging and long-lasting consequences for all of the nation's learners. This volume stems from the 2003 Educational Testing Service Invitational Conference that convened leading scholars and practitioners from education, psychology, economics, statistics, and public policy to discuss the important topic of measurement and accountability. The book begins with a broad look at where measurement and research have been and then moves into an examination of technical and methodological issues in accountability systems, closing learner achievement gaps, teacher quality issues, econometric perspectives, and finally, the all-important matter of aligning curriculum, standards, and assessment. The chapters cover all significant aspects of the current accountability scene, with careful but not exclusive attention to the No Child Left Behind. Written by nationally recognized scholars with a mandate to write in a non-technical style, this volume appeals to anyone seriously interested in school reform and the educational accountability movement.

The Handbook of Formative Assessment in the Disciplines meaningfully addresses current developments in the field, offering a unique and timely focus on domain dependency. Building from an updated definition of formative assessment, the book covers the integration of measurement principles into practice; the operationalization of formative assessment within specific domains, beyond generic strategies; evolving research directions including student involvement and self-regulation; and new approaches to the challenges of incorporating formative assessment training into pre-service and in-service educator training. As supporters of large-scale testing programs increasingly consider the potential of formative assessments to improve teaching and learning, this handbook advances the subject through novel frameworks, intersections of theory, research, and practice, and attention to discernible disciplines. Written for instructors, graduate students, researchers, and policymakers, each chapter provides expert perspectives on the procedures and evaluations that enable teachers to adapt teaching and learning in-process toward student achievement.

This book takes a developmental perspective at the use of scoring rubrics to assess student work. Citing developmental characteristics of each age, the author presents examples and adaptations of assessment rubrics on a variety of subjects for teachers from kindergarten through adult/college. After a presentation of foundation information on rubrics, separate chapters are devoted to each grade level from primary through adult. Written so that each chapter can be addressed independently, the book provides additional chapters devoted to assessing technological topics and using rubrics with students with special needs. The final chapters provide practical information to help teachers to create their own rubrics and to covert rubric scores to letter grades. An updated annotated listing of recommended rubric websites is included.

Get Through PLAB Part 1 is an essential revision tool for all candidates preparing for the examination. PLAB Part 1 consists of 70% extended matching questions and 30% single best answer (SBA) questions. As a companion text to the bestselling PLAB: 1000 Extended Matching Questions, this book provides 500 practice SBA questions covering topics that reflect the current PLAB syllabus and presented in a format identical to the exam itself. The author, Una Coales, who has taken and successfully passed the exam herself, offers helpful hints and tips on what to expect and how to negotiate the examination successfully. Get Through PLAB Part 1 is recommended to all candidates sitting the PLAB Part 1 exam, and their trainers.

The sixth volume in the Global Research on Teaching and Learning English series offers up-to-date research on the rapidly changing field of language assessment. The book features original research with chapters reporting on a variety of international education settings from a range of diverse perspectives. Covering a broad range of key topics-including scoring processes, test development, and student and teacher perspectives-contributors offer a comprehensive overview of the landscape of language assessment and discuss the consequences and impact for learners, teachers, learning programs, and society. Focusing on the assessment of language proficiency, this volume provides an original compendium of cutting-edge research that will benefit TESOL and TEFL students, language assessment scholars, and language teachers.

Learning strategies and academic performance have been extensively investigated but relatively few studies were conducted in East Asia. This volume presents a reflection on the current status of metacognition and academic performance in the East Asian region. It serves to provide a more complete picture of the global study of how students' learning and studying strategies affect their acdemic performance. This book will be of interest to researchers and educators in the area of education, education psychology, cross-cultural studies, education policy, curriculum and instruction and regional studies.

This open access book, inspired by the ICME 13 Thematic Afternoon on "European Didactic Traditions", consists of 17 chapters, in which educators from the Netherlands reflect on the teaching and learning of mathematics in their country and the role of the Dutch domain-specific instruction theory of Realistic Mathematics Education. Written by mathematics teachers, mathematics teacher educators, school advisors, and developers and researchers in the field of instructional material, textbooks, and examinations, the book offers a multitude of perspectives on important issues in Dutch mathematics education, both at primary and secondary school levels. Topics addressed include the theoretical underpinnings of the Dutch approach, the subject of mathematics in the Dutch educational system, teacher education and testing, the history of mathematics education and the use of history in teaching of mathematics, changes over time in subject matter domains and in the use of technology, and the process of innovation and how the Dutch and in particular one Dutch institute have worked on the reform.

Despite their inherent, consistent emphasis in our educational system, test scores are not infallible measurements of a student's ability, skill, or knowledge. Therefore, they should not be viewed in isolation by educators and, more importantly, by parents. In this book, Estelle S. Gellman provides parents and educators with the information necessary to interpret the test scores one encounters in today's schools. While not a scathing condemnation of testing, the book strongly emphasizes that test performance must be interpreted with respect to the limitations of the test itself and how the score corresponds with other information known about the individual test-taker.

In her examination, which covers both teacher-made and standardized tests, Gellman is careful to present technical information in a way that can be readily understood by both parents and educators. The book explains the different types of tests that are used, the purposes for which they are given, and the qualities that they should exhibit. Separate chapters give attention to achievement tests, aptitude tests, and tests of personality and interests. Other chapters take on issues of testing children with disabilities and the use of test scores in decision making. By addressing the limitations of tests, this source will allow educators and parents to reap the benefit of information that they do provide.

Contextualising why assessment is still the single most important factor affecting student learning in higher education, this second edition of Innovative Assessment in Higher Education: A Handbook for Academic Practitioners offers a critical discourse about the value of assessment for learning alongside practical suggestions about how to enhance the student experience of assessment and feedback. With 17 new chapters this edition: contextualises assessment within the current higher education landscape; explores how student, parent and government expectations impact on assessment design; presents case studies on how to develop, incorporate and assess employability skills; reviews how technology and social media can be used to enhance assessment and feedback; provides examples and critical review of the use and development of feedback practices and how to assess professional, creative and performance-based subjects; offers guidance on how to develop assessment that is inclusive and enables all students to advance their potential. Bridging the gap between theory and the practical elements of assessment, Innovative Assessment in Higher Education: A Handbook for Academic Practitioners is an essential resource for busy academics looking to make a tangible difference to their academic practice and their students' learning. This practical and accessible guide will aid both new and more experienced practitioners looking to learn more about how and why assessment in higher education can make such a difference to student learning.

Fairness and ethicality have been at the center of the debates on the appropriate use of educational tests since the 1960s. Particularly in high-stakes contexts, it is clear that fairness should be a major concern to both the test developers, and to those being tested, given that the fairness of a test is so intertwined with its validity. Fairness Issues in Educational Assessment aims to shed more light on the issue and bring to sight some of the ways in which test fairness can be addressed. The contributions, written by some of the most prominent figures in educational assessment, address both theoretical and practical aspects of test fairness. The wealth of ideas presented here will be valuable to novice researchers and help them appreciate both the joy and complexity of conducting fair educational measurement. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Research and Evaluation.

Contextualising why assessment is still the single most important factor affecting student learning in higher education, this second edition of Innovative Assessment in Higher Education: A Handbook for Academic Practitioners offers a critical discourse about the value of assessment for learning alongside practical suggestions about how to enhance the student experience of assessment and feedback. With 17 new chapters this edition: contextualises assessment within the current higher education landscape; explores how student, parent and government expectations impact on assessment design; presents case studies on how to develop, incorporate and assess employability skills; reviews how technology and social media can be used to enhance assessment and feedback; provides examples and critical review of the use and development of feedback practices and how to assess professional, creative and performance-based subjects; offers guidance on how to develop assessment that is inclusive and enables all students to advance their potential. Bridging the gap between theory and the practical elements of assessment, Innovative Assessment in Higher Education: A Handbook for Academic Practitioners is an essential resource for busy academics looking to make a tangible difference to their academic practice and their students' learning. This practical and accessible guide will aid both new and more experienced practitioners looking to learn more about how and why assessment in higher education can make such a difference to student learning.

"Just the kind of bridge we need to span the ideological wars and make schools work for teachers and their students."
Ann Lieberman
Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Visiting Professor, Stanford University

This book provides ways of thinking for preservice and new teachers to transition from the theory behind curricular design to engaged teaching and learning in the classroom. It offers a comprehensive framework for the creation and implementation of one's own authentic and effective ELA curriculum. In addition to strategies for preservice teachers to develop their own pedagogies, lessons, and teaching techniques, Costigan also demonstrates how to design tools for teaching in the current testing- and standards-driven context of the educational reform movement. Containing real-life examples of reading and writing instruction, this book empowers preservice teachers to translate the concepts of curriculum design to actual ELA classroom practices that will engage students.

This book aims to isolate specific success factors for underrepresented minorities in undergraduate engineering programs. Based on a three-phase study spearheaded by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, the findings include evidence that hands-on exposure to problem-based courses, research, and especially internships are powerful catalysts for engineering success, and that both college adjustment and academic skills matter, in varying degrees, to minority success. By encompassing an unusually large number and range of programs, this research adds to the evidence base for the importance of hands-on exposure to the work of engineering.

Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams offers practical, empirically sourced insights into the high-stakes licensure exams required in most states for teacher certification. This unique resource foregrounds the experiences of diverse preservice teachers, including teachers of color, to understand how they organize their preparation efforts, overcome self-doubt and anxiety, and navigate the high-pressure space of this important testing event. By situating these exams within their social and psychological contexts, presenting real-life cases of success and failure, and confronting innate perceptions of standardized tests, this book provides essential and highly practical support for preservice teachers, teacher educators, and departmental resource libraries.

Published in 1996, The Impact Of Managed Care On The Practice Of Psychotherapy is a valuable contribution to the field of Psychotherapy.

Although computer-based tests (CBT) have been administered for many years, improvements in the speed and power of computers coupled with reductions in their cost have made large-scale computer delivery of tests increasingly feasible. CBT is now a common form of test delivery for licensure, certification, and admissions tests. Many large-scale, high-stakes testing programs have introduced CBT either as an option or as the sole means of test delivery. Although this movement to CBT has, to a great extent, been successful, it has not been without problems. Advances in psychometrics are required to ensure that those who rely on test results can have at least the same confidence in CBTs as they have in traditional forms of assessment. This volume stems from an ETS-sponsored colloquium in which more than 200 measurement professionals from eight countries and 29 states convened to assess the current and future status of CBT. The formal agenda for the colloquium was divided into three major segments: Test Models, Test Administration, and Test Analysis and Scoring. Each segment consisted of several presentations followed by comments from noted psychometricians and a break-out session in which presenters and discussants identified important issues and established priorities for a CBT research agenda. This volume contains the papers presented at the colloquium, the discussant remarks based on those papers, and the research agenda that was generated from the break-out sessions. Computer-Based Testing: Building the Foundation for Future Assessments is must reading for professionals, scholars, and advanced students working in the testing field, as well as people in the information technology field who have an interest in testing.

In recent decades physical education has moved from the margins, redefining itself as an academic subject. An important component of this transformation has been the introduction of high-stakes examinations at key points in a student's school career and the emergence of 'examination physical education' as the dominant paradigm in many educational systems around the world. This book is the first to explore the growing international literature on examination physical education and draw on research to extend the political, academic and professional debates around the subject to explore its limitations and possibilities. Addressing key topics such as curriculum development, assessment methods, and teacher education, it seeks to assess how our existing knowledge of examination physical education can be best translated into pedagogical practice in the classroom. Complementing other texts in the Routledge Studies in Physical Education and Youth Sport Series, it makes an original and informed contribution to current discussions of physical education. Examination Physical Education: Policy, Practice and Possibilities is important reading for any student, researcher or teacher educator with an interest in physical education, sports pedagogy and education policy.

"Standard Setting: A Guide to Establishing and Evaluating Performance Standards on Tests is a well-timed text, given the legislated requirement of performance standards in our K-12 educational system, as well as the continued need in the process of credentialing professionals. This book would be useful to individuals retained to produce or coordinate standard-setting activites." -PSYCCRITIQUES In Standard Setting: A Guide to Establishing and Evaluating Performance Standards on Tests, authors Gregory J. Cizek and Michael B. Bunch provide the only "go-to" reference on how to set standards on tests in education, licensure, and certification. This book is comprehensive in scope, practical in nature, and definitive in terms of cataloguing the essential conceptual and procedural fundamentals of setting performance standards. Key Features: Offers a detailed description of procedures: In a practical, straightforward, and virtually jargon-free style, this book begins with important foundational and conceptual information about standard setting followed by step-by-step procedures for all currently used methods, including Angoff, Item Mapping, Analystic Judgment, etc. In addition, a full chapter is devoted to future issues and research in standard setting. Enables readers to design, implement, and evaluate a standard setting study: Using this book, readers will be able to: select an appropriate standard setting method; schedule and plan implementation; identify and train qualified standard-setting participants; conduct the standard setting meeting; calculate one or more cut scores; and evaluate the success of the procedure they have implemented. Allows readers to adapt written materials to their situation: Examples are provided in widely available formats such as Excel, SPSS, .pdf and Word files so readers do not have to purchase specialized software or learn to use unfamiliar packages. The book includes downloadable forms, sample correspondence, checklists, data sets, and analytical software for performing calculations required for various standard setting procedures. Intended Audience: This is an excellent supplementary textbook for graduate courses such as Applied Measurement in Education; Psychometric Theory; Advanced Educational Measurement; Special Topics in Measurement and Evaluation; Seminar in Educational and Psychological Measurement in the departments of Educational Psychology, Measurement and Evaluation, Psychology, and others.

This book describes all of the important factors that cause some students to have low reading achievement and others to have high reading achievement. It concentrates on the main factors that influence how much a student gains in reading achievement during a year of school, or a calendar year. An attempt is made to answer the following questions: what can educators do to increase reading achievement, and what is beyond their influence? The author is directly concerned with achievement associated with normal or typical reading. The focus of the book is on things teachers can do during an entire school year that are likely to improve the reading level and reading rate of students, which in turn, will increase their reading achievement. This effort to specify the most important causes of high and low reading achievement represents an integration of two disciplines of scientific psychology--experimental psychology and psychometrics. A glossary at the end of the book contains definitions of terms and concepts. Helpful appendices explain rauding theory, the three laws of rauding theory, and the equations that can be used to predict the accuracy of reading comprehension, provide conversions among units of rauding rate, and list the numbered equations presented in the book.

Passing the State Science Proficiency Tests presents essential content for elementary and middle school teachers who want to improve their science content background, enhance their classroom instruction, or pass the state science proficiency tests. This book addresses different aspects of the physical, life, and earth sciences. Each chapter was written by a science education expert and includes review questions with an accompanying answer key. This book will enhance the effectiveness and competency of any pre-service or in-service elementary or middle school teacher.

Student Plagiarism in Higher Education is a crucial read for any university teacher concerned about plagiarism. It provides the tools and information needed to assess this often complex international phenomenon constructively and effectively from a variety of angles, and provides a framework for further discussion and research. Each chapter poses a question about an essential aspect of plagiarism and examines the central theoretical, ethical and technical questions which surround it. Providing a unique perspective on the topic of academic plagiarism, this book: addresses questions which are vexing in teaching practice, but for which ready answers are not available in professional skills development materials; relates plagiarism to wider issues of learning and intellectual development; collates the thinking of international leading experts on the topic of plagiarism from different areas of the academy. Student Plagiarism in Higher Education provides an excellent insight which thoroughly interrogates all aspects of the plagiarism argument. Theoretically based and carefully considered contributions from international experts ensure that this volume is an invaluable asset to anyone wishing to read more, learn more and think more about plagiarism.

Public schools have been placed in a straitjacket over the past 30 years through over-regulation as a result of the growing power of the federal government over public education, expanding court decisions, state government legislation, school board policies and procedures, and the media's influence on public opinion. The straitjacket of centralized control and coercive approaches to the problems that public education is facing is not the solution, but actually is part of the problem. And where achievement is lower than desired this book brings attention to the root cause - lack of student preparation so that more resources can be put into catching these kids up, rather than into more tests, more curriculum development, and more administrative staff needed to comply with all of this complexity and growing regulations. We must break out of our straitjacket and give schools more flexibility in finding creative and innovative ways to address the needs of students, changing times, and professional expectations - not shackle them through regulatory mandates, closed thinking, and defective accountability processes.

Social science researchers have become increasing attentive to the role of numbers in contemporary life. Issues around big data, national test results, and output and performance statistics are now routinely reported and debated in the media. Numbers are a powerful resource for governments as a means to manage and 'improve' their populations, and we are increasingly represented, organized and driven by an economy of numbers, which inserts itself into more and more aspects of our lives. This book critically addresses some of the ways in which numbers are deployed in educational governance and practice, and some of the consequences of this deployment for what it means to be educated, to teach, and to learn. Recognising that numbers do not simply represent, but that they change things and have real effects, allows us to move beyond a system where difficult and important issues about what we want from education and from teachers are side-stepped in the push to 'improve our numbers'. This collection offers a set of starting points from which we might speak back to numbers, drawing on research to explore how numbers change the way we think about ourselves and what we do. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education Policy.

This book addresses the issue of data use in educator preparation programs towards continuous programmatic improvement. With an aim to increase the rigor in both research and practice in educational administration and teacher education, this volume will analyze the longstanding quality concerns about teacher and leadership preparation and standards for programs and educators, as well as controversies concerning national accreditation and federal efforts to mandate program reporting data. By exploring the policies and practices that influence departments of education, this volume examines the increasing pressures to improve institutional functioning, within a complex system of university, state, and national structures and organizations.