The first book to address timing considerations in testing and assessment. Offers actionable strategies built from cutting-edge research made possible through advances in technology-based assessments. The comprehensive approach of this book, including both theoretical and practical information, will position it as the definitive resource on the subject within the market.

From a cultural history of the essay to incisive contemporary rethinking of its usefulness in the classroom, from guides on how to write a seminar paper to guides on how to assess them, Making the Grade offers desperately needed clarity on a complex genre. The contributions in this book should be standard for every first-semester graduate student and every first-semester professor who wants to prepare undergraduates for graduate-level writing or who wants to prepare graduate students for professional publication.

The first book to address timing considerations in testing and assessment. Offers actionable strategies built from cutting-edge research made possible through advances in technology-based assessments. The comprehensive approach of this book, including both theoretical and practical information, will position it as the definitive resource on the subject within the market.

Psychoeducational Assessment of Preschool Children, Fifth Edition, provides academics and school-based practitioners such as psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and social workers with an up-to-date guide to the assessment of young children. Long recognized as the standard text and reference in its field, this comprehensive, skill-building overview is organized into four sections: foundations, ecological assessment, assessment of developmental domains, and special considerations. Chapters written by recognized scholars in the field cover theory, research, and application. This thoroughly revised new edition addresses current developments in preschool assessment, new policies and legislation, and student/family population demographics.

Given the academic benefits of assessment-driven teaching, and the growing accountability context of educational systems around the world, there is a rapidly developing need to educate teachers in effectively using assessments to promote, monitor, and report on student learning. However, assessment has historically been a neglected area in teacher education programmes, and empirical research has consistently shown assessment as an area of challenge for many teachers. While there is an increased focus across teacher education and professional literature on enhancing the assessment capacity of educators, there remains little empirical research on innovative and data-based strategies to effectively achieve this goal. The purpose of this text is to consolidate existing research on assessment education and to provoke innovative and effective approaches to educating teachers and teachers-in-training about assessment. Given the dearth of relevant research, this text also considers the matter of retention and extension of initial assessment learning into teaching careers. Combined, the articles in this text provide a foundation for novel thinking about developing teachers' assessment capacity from pre-service to in-service contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of Assessment in Education.

The second edition of Assessment for Excellence arrives as higher education enters a new era of the accountability movement. In the face of mandates such as results-based funding and outcomes-based accreditation, institutions and assessment specialists are feeling increasingly pressured to demonstrate accountability to external constituencies. The practice of assessment under these new accountability pressures takes on special significance for the education of students and the development of talent across the entire higher education system. This book introduces a talent development approach to educational assessment as a counter to prevailing philosophies, illustrating how contemporary practices are unable to provide institutions with meaningful data with which to improve educational outcomes. It provides administrators, policymakers, researchers, and analysts with a comprehensive framework for developing new assessment programs to promote talent development and for scrutinizing existing policies and practices. Written for a wide audience, the book enables the lay reader to quickly grasp the imperatives of a properly-designed assessment program, and also to gain adequate statistical understanding necessary for examining current or planned assessment policies. More advanced readers will appreciate the technical appendix for assistance in conducting statistical analyses that align with a talent development approach. In addition, institutional researchers will benefit from sections that outline the development of appropriate student databases.

Although there has been considerable interest and concern surrounding the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, there is almost no information regarding best practices for getting at-risk students to attempt the rigor embraced by the Standards. This text offers lesson plans, realistic advice, and explanations and descriptions focused on how to move academically discouraged students from failure to thrive to success with the Common Core.

Educators need a way to better assess science curriculum, teaching, and student learning to help our students become leaders, not just followers, in their technological future. Sandra Enger and Robert Yager, two experts in the field, provide the way. Comprehensive yet accessible, this book is packed full of methods for assessing the National Science Education Standards adopted by the National Research Counciluthe basis for most state and local standards. Alternative assessments, rubrics, grade level exemplars, and ideas for teachers to evaluate and improve their own curriculum and instruction make this practical hands-on guide a must. This book addresses critical issues of assessment including:Criteria to measure student progress in the six domains of science: concepts, processes, applications, attitude, the nature of science, and creativity Assessing student learning Evaluating teaching practice Designing rubrics and scoring guidesThis second edition of Assessing Student Understanding in Science: A Standards-Based Ku12 Handbook has been updated throughout and includes a new chapter on using notebooks in the science classroom, as well as extensive coverage of the use of formative assessment during science instruction.

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed immigrant students at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language acquisition (SLA) has stated the complexity involved in the learning/acquisition process of a target language. The Handbook of Research on Assessment Practices and Pedagogical Models for Immigrant Students is a critical research publication that focuses on research-based pedagogical practices for teaching immigrant students. Highlighting topics such as curriculum design, second language acquisition (SLA), and classroom management, this book is designed for academicians, professionals, researchers, administrators, faculty, and classroom teachers.

Although there has been considerable interest and concern surrounding the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, there is almost no information regarding best practices for getting at-risk students to attempt the rigor embraced by the Standards. This text offers lesson plans, realistic advice, and explanations and descriptions focused on how to move academically discouraged students from failure to thrive to success with the Common Core.

Schools are drowning in test data, but many schools do little with test results other than sort students into various categories of proficiency or lack thereof. Some educators feel testing has taken the joy out of teaching. Others believe valuable instructional time has been lost as a result of testing. Yet, NCBL and other federal and state mandates have placed educators under increasing pressure to make certain all students meet standards on high-stakes tests. Now, more than ever, teachers and administrators need to embrace testing as a valuable classroom tool to guide instruction, use efficient technological resources available for test scoring and analysis, and profit from the benefits of test analysis to increase learning and achievement. Using Test Data for Student Achievement shows educators, step by step, how to use test data to facilitate student learning. The book combines research, technology and Sindelar's experience as a teacher and administrator to provide practical and efficient ways to use test data to increase learning, close achievement gaps and even raise test scores.

Testing and Inclusive Schooling provides a comparative perspective on seemingly incompatible global agendas and efforts to include all children in the general school system, thus reducing exclusion. With an examination of the international testing culture and the politics of inclusion currently permeating national school reforms, this book raises a critical and constructive discussion of these movements, which appear to support one another, yet simultaneously offer profound contradictions. With contributions from around the world, the book analyses the dilemma arising between reforms that urge schools to move towards a constantly higher academic level, and those who practice a politics of inclusion leading to a greater degree of student diversity. The book considers the types of problems that arise when reforms implemented at the international level are transformed into policies and practices, firmly placing global educational efforts into perspective by highlighting a range of different cases at both national and local levels. Testing and Inclusive Schooling sheds light on new possibilities for educational improvements in global and local contexts and is essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in international and comparative education, assessment technologies and practices, inclusion, educational psychology and educational policy.

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.

Chronicling a high-profile and ambitious teacher preparation reform project that took place across 11 diverse U.S. institutions, this volume examines the strategies, program changes, accomplishments, and challenges from the Teachers for a New Era Project (TNE). TNE aimed to improve the preparation of K-12 teachers and address mounting criticisms of university-based teacher education. Funded primarily by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, TNE targeted the most persistant problems in university-based teacher preparation programs, focused on evidence-based assessment of program impact, and developed strategies for improvement. Exploring both the successes and tensions that arose from the program, this book contributes to future teacher education and program assessment endeavors, and offers lessons that can inform current policies and practices.

Although schools have moved toward standards-based curriculum and instruction, grading practices and reporting systems have remained largely unchanged. Helping headteachers gain support for transitioning from traditional to standards-based report cards, this book guides educators in aligning assessment and reporting practices with standards-based education and providing more detailed reports of children's learning and achievement. A standards-based report card breaks down each subject area into specific elements of learning to offer parents and teachers a more thorough description of each child's progress toward proficiency. This accessible volume: - Provides a clear framework for developing standards-based report cards - Shows how to communicate with parents, students, and other stakeholders about changes - Illustrates how to achieve grading consistency without increasing teachers' workloads or violating their professional autonomy Filled with examples of standards-based report cards that can be adapted to a school's needs, this practical resource shows district and school administrators how to establish reporting practices that facilitate learning.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international achievement measure that assesses 15-year-old student performance in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science literacy in over 70 countries and economies triennially. By presenting an in-depth examination of PISA's role in education governance and policy discourses, this book provides the reader with a critical analysis of the educational change process within our increasingly global educational policy environment. Exploring the prominent socio-political drivers of large-scale educational reform across the globe, chapter authors examine PISA's national and global implications from a diverse range of regional contexts. Through the presentation of cross-disciplinary viewpoints and topical issues related to the PISA international survey, this volume explains the degree to which PISA-focused research is linked to national educational policy discourses and international education agendas.

Offering an interdisciplinary qualitative approach, this book examines and evaluates the role and benefits of a Learning Community (LC), a high-impact practice for student retention in higher education. Grounded in in-depth case studies and first-person student experiences, the authors studied four student cohorts (sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate students) who participated in a full immersion LC experience at an urban public four-year college in New York. Focusing on the maturity students develop as they progress toward their degrees, the authors evaluate the impact of the learning community on the students' experiences, perceptions, successes and obstacles. A powerful demonstration of the effects of connection and comradery on learning, this account explores how the LC helps the decision-making of those in higher education administration regarding high impact student interventions.

smarTEST Prep: Guide to LSAT Logic Games presents a standardized and methodical approach to conquering the Logic Games section of the LSAT. This book helps readers to understand the fundamentals of logic games and how to properly diagram their solutions. Featuring innovative strategies to increase your score, step-by-step guides to accurate diagrams, and twenty-three original and challenging practice games, the book will help every reader feel prepared on test day.

This updated edition of "Focused Observations" will help early childhood educators connect observation and documentation to appropriate assessment and curriculum related to early learning guidelines.
Intentional teaching begins with focused observations and systematic documentation of children's learning and development. This book explains why observation is one of the best methods to get to know each child well, track progress, and plan individualized curriculum. It also provides tools and techniques to help you strengthen your observations, create portfolios with rich documentation, and support each child. You will also learn how to share your findings with families and grow as an observer through review and reflection activities.
Learn answers to common questions about observation, including
Why should I use observation in my classroom?
What does effective observation and documentation look like?
How do I fit observation in so that it doesn't take away from teaching and interacting with children?
How do observation and documentation work with early learning guidelines?
An interactive CD-ROM with nineteen vignettes of children in action provide opportunities to practice observing children and capturing what you see.
Gaye Gronlund is an early childhood consultant who trains educators, administrators, and policy makers across the country. She is a well-known keynote speaker and staff development presenter and the author of six Redleaf Press books. Gaye holds a master's degree in adult learning and early childhood education.
Marlyn James is the early childhood program director and the education department chair at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, Montana. She presents at local, state, and national conferences and coauthored "Early Learning Standards and Staff Development" with Gaye Gronlund. Marlyn holds a master's degree in human development.

Testing matters It can determine kids' and schools' futures. In a conference at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, mathematicians, maths education researchers, teachers, test developers, and policymakers gathered to work through critical issues related to mathematics assessment. They examined: * The challenges of assessing student learning in ways that support instructional improvement; * Ethical issues related to assessment, including the impact of testing on urban and high-poverty schools; * The different (and sometimes conflicting) needs of the different groups; and * Different frameworks, tools, and methods for assessment, comparing the kinds of information they offer about students' mathematical proficiency. This volume presents the results of the discussions. It highlights the kinds of information that different assessments can offer, including many examples of some of the best mathematics assessments worldwide. A special feature is an interview with a student about his knowledge of fractions and a demonstration of what interviews (versus standardized tests) can reveal.

This book examines the intricacies of the discourse of post-observation feedback that student teachers receive following group teaching practice. In particular, the author explores confirmatory feedback as an instigator of student teacher learning, and examines the potential links between feedback and change. The book will be of specific interest to researchers, teacher educators and other professionals involved in feedback-giving settings.

A comprehensive collection of new work examining the relationship between educational measurement concepts and the assessment of student learning in classrooms. Adapts existing concepts in measurement and information theory to fit the specific context of classroom learning and assessment. Serves as a companion volume to the work and goals of the NCME's Classroom Assessment Task Force, which is working to advance classroom assessment research within the field of educational measurement.

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.

Citing developmental characteristics of each grade level, A Complete Guide to Rubrics presents examples and adaptations of assessment rubrics on a variety of subjects. It features examples of teacher-created rubrics, Internet resources, and additional chapters devoted to assessing technological topics, including blogging. This book will be of interest to all educators who are required to assess student performance.

The arrival of the computer in educational and psychological testing has led to the current popularity of adaptive testing---a testing format in which the computer uses statistical information about the test items to automatically adapt their selection to a real-time update of the test taker's ability estimate. This book covers such key features of adaptive testing as item selection and ability estimation, adaptive testing with multidimensional abilities, sequencing adaptive test batteries, multistage adaptive testing, item-pool design and maintenance, estimation of item and item-family parameters, item and person fit, as well as adaptive mastery and classification testing. It also shows how these features are used in the daily operations of several large-scale adaptive testing programs.