This edited volume provides insight into how digital badges may enhance formal, non-formal and informal education by focusing on technical design issues including organizational requirements, learning and instructional design, as well as deployment. It features current research exploring the theoretical foundation and empirical evidence of the utilization of digital badges as well as case studies that describe current practices and experiences in the use of digital badges for motivation, learning, and instruction in K-12, higher education, workplace learning, and further education settings.

This handbook provides all those teaching in higher and further education with a reference on how to develop and use a "toolkit" which is capable of exploring and assessing all the relevant aspects of their students' learning. It discusses how readers can assess their own teaching quality.

Designing Adaptive and Personalized Learning Environments provides a theoretically-based yet practical guide to systematic design processes for learning environments that provide automatic customization of learning and instruction. The book consists of four main sections: In "Introduction and Overview," the concepts of adaptivity and personalization are introduced and explored in detail. In "Theoretical Perspectives with Example Applications," various theoretical concepts underlying adaptive and personalized learning are discussed, including cognitive profiling, content-based adaptivity, exploration-based adaptivity, and mobile and ubiquitous settings. In "Practical Perspectives with Example Applications," the implementation process for adaptive and personalized learning environments is described, followed by application in various contexts. In "Validation and Future Trends," various evaluation techniques for validating the efficiency and efficacy of adaptive and personalized learning systems are discussed. This final section concludes with a discussion of emerging trends in adaptive and personalized learning research. Based on cutting-edge research, Designing Adaptive and Personalized Learning Environments is appropriate as a primary textbook for both undergraduate and graduate courses focused on the design of learning systems, and as a secondary textbook for a variety of courses in programs such as educational technology, instructional design, learning sciences, digital literacy, computer based systems, and STEM content fields.

The Race To The Top (RTTP) federal education policy fostered a new generation of state tests. This policy advocated adopting common core standards which set a higher level of learning targets for students in the US K?12 education. These standards are intended to assess higher order thinking skills and prepare students ready for college and career. In the meantime, they are aligned with those for international assessments which keep US students abreast of their international peers. Furthermore, the new generation of state tests requires the use of technology enhanced items to align student assessments with student learning environment. Computer technology is indispensable to accomplish this goal. Computer based tests related to common core standards are different from previous state computer based tests in two important aspects, one is that the current version requires accurate assessment of students along all ability levels and the other is that it promotes the use of an efficient test delivery system, essentially the use of computerized adaptive assessment in K?12 state testing programs. In addition to providing summative information about student learning, the new common core tests add formative assessment component in the whole assessment system to provide timely feedback to students and teachers during the process of student learning and teacher instruction. As with its predecessor, the new assessment policy also holds teachers and schools accountable for student learning. With the requirements by the new federal education policy, states formed two consortia: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter?Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) to develop assessments in alignment with the new common core standards. This book is based on the presentations made at the Thirteenth Annual Maryland Assessment Research Center's Conference on "The Next Generation of Testing: Common Core Standards, Smarter?Balanced, PARCC, and the Nationwide Testing Movement". Experts from the consortia and nationwide overviewed the intention, history and the current status of this nationwide testing movement. Item development, test design, and transition from old state tests to the new consortia tests are discussed. Test scoring and reporting are specially highlighted in the book. The challenges related to standard setting for the new test, especially in the CAT environment and linking performance standards from state tests with consortium tests were explored. The issues of utilizing the consortium test results to evaluate students' college and career readiness is another topic addressed in the book. The last chapters address the critical issue of validity in the new generation of state testing programs. Overall, this book presents the latest status of the development of the two consortium assessment systems. It addresses the most challenging issues related to the next generation of state testing programs including development of innovative items assessing higher order thinking skills, scoring of such items, standard setting and linkage with the old state specific standards, and validity issues. This edited book provides a very good source of information related to the consortium tests based on the common core standards.

The Race To The Top (RTTP) federal education policy fostered a new generation of state tests. This policy advocated adopting common core standards which set a higher level of learning targets for students in the US K?12 education. These standards are intended to assess higher order thinking skills and prepare students ready for college and career. In the meantime, they are aligned with those for international assessments which keep US students abreast of their international peers. Furthermore, the new generation of state tests requires the use of technology enhanced items to align student assessments with student learning environment. Computer technology is indispensable to accomplish this goal. Computer based tests related to common core standards are different from previous state computer based tests in two important aspects, one is that the current version requires accurate assessment of students along all ability levels and the other is that it promotes the use of an efficient test delivery system, essentially the use of computerized adaptive assessment in K?12 state testing programs. In addition to providing summative information about student learning, the new common core tests add formative assessment component in the whole assessment system to provide timely feedback to students and teachers during the process of student learning and teacher instruction. As with its predecessor, the new assessment policy also holds teachers and schools accountable for student learning. With the requirements by the new federal education policy, states formed two consortia: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter?Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) to develop assessments in alignment with the new common core standards. This book is based on the presentations made at the Thirteenth Annual Maryland Assessment Research Center's Conference on "The Next Generation of Testing: Common Core Standards, Smarter?Balanced, PARCC, and the Nationwide Testing Movement". Experts from the consortia and nationwide overviewed the intention, history and the current status of this nationwide testing movement. Item development, test design, and transition from old state tests to the new consortia tests are discussed. Test scoring and reporting are specially highlighted in the book. The challenges related to standard setting for the new test, especially in the CAT environment and linking performance standards from state tests with consortium tests were explored. The issues of utilizing the consortium test results to evaluate students' college and career readiness is another topic addressed in the book. The last chapters address the critical issue of validity in the new generation of state testing programs. Overall, this book presents the latest status of the development of the two consortium assessment systems. It addresses the most challenging issues related to the next generation of state testing programs including development of innovative items assessing higher order thinking skills, scoring of such items, standard setting and linkage with the old state specific standards, and validity issues. This edited book provides a very good source of information related to the consortium tests based on the common core standards.

Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), that were developed for the National Core Arts Standards in Music, are curriculum-embedded measures designed for music students to apply relevant knowledge and skills while demonstrating learning in the standards that define the artistic processes. They are meant to engage students in tasks authentic to a school's curriculum and honor the intent of the Music Performance Standards. They are created as models to allow for usefulness in a variety of curricular contexts and demographics. The intent of each MCA is to provide research-based assessment tasks that is specifically focused on the expected learning for the performance standards with rubrics that has been tested for scoring consistency. Following substantial development and piloting in schools across the United States, this book provides a thorough background of the MCAs and the confidence measures administered to guide implementation by teachers, administrators, and the educational community.

In this completely updated edition of 500 Tips on Assessment, the authors look at the questions and the problems that teachers face and provide them with practical guidance. Their advice is down-to-earth, jargon-free and digestible, covering such key issues as: putting assessment into context: best practice, learning outcomes and monitoring quality of assessment different examination formats: traditional, open-book, open-notes, oral exams different assessment formats: essays, reports, practical work, presentations feedback and assessment assessing group learning.

A lot hangs on the summative grades that students are given. A good degree opens doors which otherwise might remain closed. Yet, as higher education is now a mass rather than an elite system, what is expected of its graduates is different from the expectations of previous generations. Students are expected not only to be able to demonstrate high standards of academic achievement, but also a variety of capabilities that have at different times been given labels such as 'generic skills' and 'transferable skills'. These abilities are difficult to grade for a variety of reasons and some graduates may be losing out because their particular strengths are given insufficient acknowledgement in current summative assessment practices. Using the UK honours degree classifications as a case study, this book appraises the way in which summative assessment in higher education is approached and shows that the foundations of current practices (in the UK and elsewhere) are of questionable robustness. It argues that there is a need to widen the assessment frame if the breadth of valued student achievements is to be recognised adequately.

Over the past twenty years the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) has become world-renowned as an organisation dedicated to the discussion of current thinking in educational policy and practice. As such, the ideas aired at ISATT conferences are of the greatest significance to today's educational practitioners. This book satisfies the demand for a lasting record of ISATT's illuminating discussions on the theme. It is based on a selection of papers presented at their third bi-annual conference and has been updated by each contributor to include their current thoughts and opinions. Containing nineteen articles, each an in-depth examination of the topic, it is divided into four sections: conceptual frames for teacher thought and action methods and approaches to the study of teacher though and action teacher judgment and evaluation of students teacher thinking and teacher education. Broad in theme, international in scope and detailed this book is essential and enlightening reading for anyone with a serious interest in the ongoing development of educational thought.

This volume brings a variety of perspectives to bear on the issue of how higher education institutions can - or should - choose students during the early part of the 21st century. Many of the contributors report on research to develop and validate potential tools to assist those responsible for admission decisions. Other contributors, however, pose broader questions about the nature of selective admissions, about institutional responses to the changing demography of those seeking to enter higher education, or about the appropriate criteria of 'success' in higher education. The volume is particularly timely because the question of how changes in admission tools and processes will affect campus diversity following the recent Supreme Court decision concerning the University of Michigan. Diversity is an important concern of all of the contributors and the chapter by Lee Bollinger--President at Michigan at the time the court cases were filed--is particularly relevant. This book brings together the research that underlies a variety of proposed approaches to improving the selection of students. Providing support for the integrity of the admissions process and the validity of new tools to help a higher education institution to select a diverse student body, this book explores the implications of the assessment component of K-12 school reform for higher education admissions practices. The diverse contributions to this volume reflect the current ferment in educational research and educational practice as institutions of higher education seek to develop a new admissions paradigm for coming decades following the University of Michigan decisions. This book is intended for those leaders and professionals who set admission policies and practices in American colleges, and graduate and professional schools, as well as for those scholars and scientists who research, develop, and validate tools for use in the process of choosing students in ways that are congruent with an institution's mission, values, and goals.

This volume is intended for researchers, curriculum developers, policy makers, and classroom teachers who want comprehensive information on what students at grades 4, 8, and 12 (the grades assessed by NAEP) can and cannot do in mathematics. After two introductory chapters on the design of NAEP, the volume contains a chapter on the challenges in analyzing NAEP data at the item level followed by five chapters that report 2005 through 2013 student performance on specific assessment items. These chapters are organized by content area and then by topic (e.g., understanding of place value, knowledge of transformations, ability to use metric and U.S. systems of measurement) and thus provide baseline data on the proportion of students who are able to complete the mathematics tasks currently used in the upper elementary, middle, and high?school mathematics curriculum. Additional chapters focus on student reasoning, U.S. performance on international assessments, and using construct analysis rather than percent correct on clusters of items to understand student knowledge on specific mathematics topics. Several themes emerge from the volume. One is that while the rate of improvement in mathematics learning in grades 4 and 8 has slowed in recent years, it has slowed more on some topics than others. Another is that relatively minor changes in wording can have significant effects on student performance and thus it is difficult to be specific about what students can do without knowing exactly what questions they were asked. A third theme is that changes in performance over time can sometimes but not always be understood in terms of what students are taught. For example, there were substantial gains on several grade 4 items requiring understanding of fractions and that is probably because the amount of instruction on fractions in grades 3 and 4 has been increasing. In contrast, while relatively few twelfth?grade students have ever been good at factoring trinomials, performance on this skill seems to be decreasing. This suggests that while more students are completing advanced mathematics courses in high school, these courses are not helping in the area of factoring trinomials. Finally, there are limitations to using NAEP as a measure of student performance on the Common Core State Standards. To the extent that NAEP can be used, however, the NAEP data show a substantial gap between expectations and performance.

Integrated information systems are increasingly used in schools, and the advent of the technology-rich classroom requires a new degree of ongoing classroom assessment. Able to track web searches, resources used, task completion time, and a variety of other classroom behaviors, technology-rich classrooms offer a wealth of potential information about teaching and learning. This information can be used to track student progress in languages, STEM, and in 21st Century skills, for instance. However, despite these changes, there has been little change in the kind of data made available to teachers, administrators, students, and parents. Measuring and Visualizing Learning in the Information-Rich Classroom collects research on the implementation of classroom assessment techniques in technology-enhanced learning environments. Building on research conducted by a multinational and multidisciplinary team of learning technology experts, and specialists from around the globe, this book addresses these discrepancies. With contributions from major researchers in education technology, testing and assessment, and education psychology, this book contributes to a holistic approach for building the information infrastructure of the 21st Century school.

Integrated information systems are increasingly used in schools, and the advent of the technology-rich classroom requires a new degree of ongoing classroom assessment. Able to track web searches, resources used, task completion time, and a variety of other classroom behaviors, technology-rich classrooms offer a wealth of potential information about teaching and learning. This information can be used to track student progress in languages, STEM, and in 21st Century skills, for instance. However, despite these changes, there has been little change in the kind of data made available to teachers, administrators, students, and parents. Measuring and Visualizing Learning in the Information-Rich Classroom collects research on the implementation of classroom assessment techniques in technology-enhanced learning environments. Building on research conducted by a multinational and multidisciplinary team of learning technology experts, and specialists from around the globe, this book addresses these discrepancies. With contributions from major researchers in education technology, testing and assessment, and education psychology, this book contributes to a holistic approach for building the information infrastructure of the 21st Century school.

Winner of the 2017 AERA Division D Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology Award! Technological and statistical advances, along with a strong interest in gathering more information about the state of our educational systems, have made it possible to assess more students, in more countries, more often, and in more subject domains. The Handbook of International Large-Scale Assessment: Background, Technical Issues, and Methods of Data Analysis brings together recognized scholars in the field of ILSA, behavioral statistics, and policy to develop a detailed guide that goes beyond database user manuals. After highlighting the importance of ILSA data to policy and research, the book reviews methodological aspects and features of the studies based on operational considerations, analytics, and reporting. The book then describes methods of interest to advanced graduate students, researchers, and policy analysts who have a good grounding in quantitative methods, but who are not necessarily quantitative methodologists. In addition, it provides a detailed exposition of the technical details behind these assessments, including the test design, the sampling framework, and estimation methods, with a focus on how these issues impact analysis choices.

First published in 1980, Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom assesses the performance of primary schoolchildren in a range of study skills as well as on the more conventional tests of mathematics, language use and reading. The findings indicate that the more successful styles are used by the more experienced teachers, who manage to increase the amount of contact with the pupils by a variety of organizational strategies. While pupils who receive the greatest amount of class teaching do best on mathematics, there is no evidence to suggest that the characteristics of teaching valued by critics of modern primary practice exert any significant influence on pupil progress. The relationship between pupil progress and behaviour shows some remarkable patterns. For example, it was found that children who work on average one day per week less than other children still make the same progress in basic skills as the others. Such findings suggest that there is a need to examine how far teaching in the junior school is sufficiently stimulating and challenging, while at the same time acknowledging the difficulties of improving the situation while class sizes remain relatively high. This book will be of interest to students of education and pedagogy as well as to teachers.

This book is intended for anyone who is seriously interested in designing and validating multiple-choice test items that measure understanding and the application of knowledge and skills to complex situations, such as critical thinking and problem solving. The most comprehensive and authoritative book in its field, this edition has been extensively revised to include: *more information about writing items that match content standards; *more information about creating item pools and item banking; *a new set of item-writing rules (with examples) in chapter 5, as well as guidelines for other multiple-choice formats; *hundreds of examples including an expanded chapter 4 devoted to exemplary item formats and a new chapter 6 containing exemplary items (with author annotations); *a chapter on item generation (chapter 7) featuring item modeling and other procedures that speed up item development; and *a more extensive set of references to past and current work in the area of multiple-choice item writing and validation. This book will be of interest to anyone who develops test items for large-scale assessments, as well as teachers and graduate students who desire the most comprehensive and authoritative information on the design and validation of multiple-choice test items.

Test fairness is a moral imperative for both the makers and the users of tests. This book focuses on methods for detecting test items that function differently for different groups of examinees and on using this information to improve tests. Of interest to all testing and measurement specialists, it examines modern techniques used routinely to insure test fairness. Three of these relevant to the book's contents are: * detailed reviews of test items by subject matter experts and members of the major subgroups in society (gender, ethnic, and linguistic) that will be represented in the examinee population * comparisons of the predictive validity of the test done separately for each one of the major subgroups of examinees * extensive statistical analyses of the relative performance of major subgroups of examinees on individual test items.

Test Scoring provides a summary of traditional true score test theory and modern item response theory related to scoring tests, as well as novel developments resulting from the integration of these approaches. The background material introduced in the first four chapters builds a foundation for the new developments covered in later chapters. These new methods offer alternative psychometric approaches to scoring complex assessments. Each of the book's contributors draws from the classic literature of traditional test theory, as well as psychometric developments of the past decade. The emphasis is on large-scale educational measurement but the topics and procedures may be applied broadly within many measurement contexts. Numerous graphs and illustrative examples based on real tests and actual data are integrated throughout. This multi-authored volume shows the reader how to combine the coded outcomes on individual test items into a numerical summary about the examinee's performance. This book is intended for researchers and students in education and other social sciences interested in educational assessment and policy, the design and development of tests, and the procedures for test administration and scoring. Prerequisites include an introduction to educational and psychological measurement and basic statistics. Knowledge of differential and integral calculus and matrix algebra is helpful but not required.

Assessment is inextricably linked with learning and teaching, and its profile in British schools has never been higher. Recently the value and importance of formative assessment in supporting learning and teaching has also become widely recognised. Although assessment is a prime concern of anyone involved in education it remains a highly complex field where much controversy and misunderstanding abounds. This book explores the values, principles, research and theories that underpin our understanding and practice of assessment. It also provides practical suggestions and examples, and addresses some key points about the future development of assessment. The book makes accessible complex but crucial ideas and issues, so that teachers can be more confident and proactive in shaping assessment in their classrooms, in ways that support learning and avoid unintentional harmful consequences.

This new volume is the first to focus entirely on automated essay scoring and evaluation. It is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution and state-of-the-art of automated essay scoring and evaluation technology across several disciplines, including education, testing and measurement, cognitive science, computer science, and computational linguistics. The development of this technology has led to many questions and concerns. Automated Essay Scoring attempts to address some of these questions including: *How can automated scoring and evaluation supplement classroom instruction? *How does the technology actually work? *Can it improve students' writing? *How reliable is the technology? *How can these computing methods be used to develop evaluation tools? *What are the state-of the-art essay evaluation technologies and automated scoring systems? Divided into four parts, the first part reviews the teaching of writing and how computers can contribute to it. Part II analyzes actual automated essay scorers including e-raterTM, Intellimetric, and the Intelligent Essay Assessor. The third part analyzes related psychometric issues, and the final part reviews innovations in the field. This book is ideal for researchers and advanced students interested in automated essay scoring from the fields of testing and measurement, education, cognitive science, language, and computational linguistics.

Is advertising a factor that contributes to rising costs and prices? This study, commissioned to answer just that question by the Institute of Canadian Advertising, examines the effect of advertising on the Canadian economy, on business, the consumer, costs and prices, productivity, competition, employment, social welfare and economic growth. The Economic Implications of Advertising provides a valuable insight into a little-studied area of advertising, and will be of great interest to students of the industry everywhere. First published in 1967.

This must-read book for all literacy educators illuminates the intersection of research on literacy instruction and teacher evaluation. Since 2009, 46 states have changed or revised policies related to evaluating teachers and school leaders. In order for these new policies to be used to support and develop effective literacy instruction, resources are needed that connect the best of what is known about teaching literacy with current evaluation policies and support practices. A major contribution to meeting this need, the volume brings together a range of perspectives on tools, systems, and policies for the evaluation of teaching, organized into two sections: * Crafting Systems and Policies for Evaluating Literacy Instruction * Examples of Alternative Systems/Approaches for Evaluating Literacy Instruction Across the text, expert scholars in the field emphasize the need for literacy professionals to do more than merely apply generic observation instruments for teacher evaluation, but also to consider how these tools reflect professional values, how elements of effective literacy instruction can be unearthed or included within them, and how teacher evaluation systems and policies can be used to increase students' opportunities to develop literacy.

-Contributors are leading experts which means that each chapter includes up-to-date, high-level, and reputable -Includes new perspectives on established topics like computerized testing and scoring that incorporate technological advances making the book immediately practical to test writers and researchers. -Chapters on assessment through gaming and simulation which introduce newer topics in testing to academics and professionals -Part of our NCME series, this book has been developed and edited by a team of leading experts, ensuring the very best research

This book provides the basics of student self-assessment and implementation challenges, and it offers practical solutions and examples for navigating the use of student self-assessment in various subject disciplines in primary schools, secondary schools and higher education. It provides an informed approach for educators to understand the complexities and subtleties involved in implementing self-assessment, and how this might include and impact on teachers and students. Involving students in assessment is not a new idea nor is student self-assessment a new assessment tool in schools. Despite the advantages and the necessity for including it in our pedagogic processes explicitly, the use of student self-assessment has been far from commonplace and consistent in classrooms, schools and universities. This book makes clear the choices of what, how and why student self-assessment is important and usable in the classroom. This book is designed for educators at different levels, and educational researchers. It will provide food for thought for pre- and in-service teachers and school leaders who are interested in nurturing independent and self-directed learners by involving students in the assessment process and maximising student learning through the use of student self-assessment.

This book provides an authoritative overview of the criteria and standards of the doctorate across a wide range of international settings, with a particular focus on the practices of examining. Presenting case studies and research from 13 universities in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia, and Europe, the book is based on in-depth interviews and comparative analyses of the PhD examining experience. It reveals the variations and similarities in different academic traditions and investigates the extent to which there are comparable expectations and standards across countries. It suggests that criteria and standards - both written and unwritten - are broadly similar, but shows that there is a need for much more explicitly formulated criteria and standards for an internationalised approach to doctoral assessment. Following on from the 2019 book The Doctorate as Experience in Europe and Beyond, this book will be of great interest to current and potential doctoral examiners, researchers of higher education, and university administrators.