Evaluations of school-based interventions are and should be conducted in order to examine the programme effectiveness and whether and how these programmes should be implemented in schools. Over the last century Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) have been seen as the 'gold standard' for evaluation, however How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a School-Based Intervention presents a multi-dimensional evaluation framework, which is not only based on measurable outcomes. According to this framework, the evaluation of a programme should combine different methods and perspectives, and should examine the impact of the programme on many student's skills prior to reaching a conclusion of whether and how a programme should be implemented. Suggesting a cost-effective method of conducting a multi-dimensional evaluation research study, in order to include the examination of the impact of the programme on students' thinking skills, this book investigates how these skills can be defined and assessed effectively and presents a step-by-step guide by demonstrating how the multi-dimensional evaluation of the Philosophy for Children programme was conducted. Evaluating the programme from an independent standpoint, this book is essential reading for researchers conducting evaluations in education; researchers who are interested in Philosophy for Children research; and teachers and trainers who internationally implement P4C in their classrooms.

Washback refers to the influence of language testing on teaching and learning. This volume, at the important intersection of language testing and teaching practices, presents theoretical, methodological, and practical guidance for current and future washback studies.
In the field of language testing, researchers' major interest has traditionally been focused on issues and solving problems inherent in tests in order to increase their reliability and validity. However, the washback effect goes well beyond the test itself to include factors, such as curriculum, teacher and learner behaviors inside and outside the classroom, their perceptions of the test, and how test scores are used. Only recently have researchers started to empirically investigate the phenomenon of washback. This volume of such research serves two essential purposes by:
*providing an overview of the complexity of washback and the various contextual factors entangled within testing, teaching, and learning; and
*presenting empirical studies from around the world that offer insights into the effects of washback in specific educational contexts and models of research on which future studies can be based.
The extensive use of test scores for various educational and social purposes in society nowadays makes the washback effect a high-interest phenomenon in the day-to-day educational activities of teachers, researchers, program coordinators/directors, policymakers, and others in the field of education. "Washback in Language Testing: Research Contexts and Methods" is a valuable resource for those who are interested in the application of findings to actual teaching and learning situations or conduct washbackresearch in their own contexts, including educational and psychological testing experts, as well as alternative assessment people in all fields, and for policy- and decision-makers in educational and testing organizations.

** WINNER OF ILTA/SAGE Best Book Award 2020 ** Assessing English for Professional Purposes provides a state-of-the-art account of the various kinds of language assessments used to determine people's abilities to function linguistically in the workplace. At a time when professional expertise is increasingly mobile and diverse, with highly trained professionals migrating across national boundaries to apply their skills in English-speaking settings, this book offers a renewed agenda for inquiry into language assessments for professional purposes (LAPP). Many of these experts work in high-risk environments where communication breakdowns can have serious consequences. This risk has been identified by governments and professional bodies, who implement language tests for gate-keeping purposes. Through a sociological lens of risk and responsibility, this book: provides a detailed overview of both foundational and recent literature in the field; offers conceptual tools for specific purpose assessment, including a socially oriented theory of construct; develops theory and practice in key areas, such as needs analysis, test development, validation and policy; significantly broadens the scope of the assessment of English for professional purposes to include a range of assessment practices for both professionals and laypeople in professional settings. Assessing English for Professional Purposes is key reading for researchers, graduate students and practitioners working in the area of English for Specific Purposes assessment.

First-Generation College Student Research Studies displays a group of dynamic scholars from a variety of institutions across the United States. This extraordinary edited volume highlights the first generation college student population and examines topics of discussion such as; college choice, social experiences, dual credit on academic success, life styles and health status, and professional identity/teaching practices. The collection of empirical studies in this text contributes greatly to the research literature regarding the role that educational leaders have in educating first-generation college students.

Washback refers to the influence of language testing on teaching and learning. This volume, at the important intersection of language testing and teaching practices, presents theoretical, methodological, and practical guidance for current and future washback studies.
In the field of language testing, researchers' major interest has traditionally been focused on issues and solving problems inherent in tests in order to increase their reliability and validity. However, the washback effect goes well beyond the test itself to include factors, such as curriculum, teacher and learner behaviors inside and outside the classroom, their perceptions of the test, and how test scores are used. Only recently have researchers started to empirically investigate the phenomenon of washback. This volume of such research serves two essential purposes by:
*providing an overview of the complexity of washback and the various contextual factors entangled within testing, teaching, and learning; and
*presenting empirical studies from around the world that offer insights into the effects of washback in specific educational contexts and models of research on which future studies can be based.
The extensive use of test scores for various educational and social purposes in society nowadays makes the washback effect a high-interest phenomenon in the day-to-day educational activities of teachers, researchers, program coordinators/directors, policymakers, and others in the field of education. "Washback in Language Testing: Research Contexts and Methods" is a valuable resource for those who are interested in the application of findings to actual teaching and learning situations or conduct washbackresearch in their own contexts, including educational and psychological testing experts, as well as alternative assessment people in all fields, and for policy- and decision-makers in educational and testing organizations.

Assessing Expressive Learning is the only book in the art education field to date to propose and support a research-supported teacher-directed authentic assessment model for evaluating K-12 studio art, and to offer practical information on how to implement the model. This practical text for developing visual arts assessment for grades 1-12 is based on and supported by the results of a year-long research effort primarily sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, involving 70 art teachers and 1,500 students in 12 school districts in Florida, Indiana, and Illinois. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that creative artwork by K-12 students can be empirically assessed using quantitative measures that are consistent with the philosophical assumptions of authentic learning and with the means and ends of art, and that these measures can reliably assess student art growth. A further goal was to provide a rationale for the assessment of student art as an essential part of the K-12 instructional program and to encourage art teachers to take responsibility for and assume a leadership role in the assessment of art learning in the school and the school district. Assessing Expressive Learning: *reports on current assessment methods but also stresses a time-tested portfolio assessment process that can be used or adapted for use in any K-12 art classroom; *includes the assessment instruments used in the study and several case studies of art teachers using electronic portfolios of student work, a bibliography of major art assessment efforts, and a critical review of current methods; *is designed to be teacher- and system-friendly, unlike many other art assessment publications that provide only a review of information on assessment; and *both documents an experiment where artistic values and aesthetic issues were considered paramount in the education of K-12 students in the visual arts, and also serves as a guide for the conduct of similar experiments by art teachers in the nation's schools--the research methodology and results are reported in an appendix in a format that will enable educational researchers to duplicate the study. This volume is ideal as a text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate classes in visual arts education assessment, and highly relevant for college art education professors, researchers, and school district personnel involved in the education and supervision of art teachers, and researchers interested in performance measurement.

Assessing Expressive Learning is the only book in the art education field to date to propose and support a research-supported teacher-directed authentic assessment model for evaluating K-12 studio art, and to offer practical information on how to implement the model. This practical text for developing visual arts assessment for grades 1-12 is based on and supported by the results of a year-long research effort primarily sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, involving 70 art teachers and 1,500 students in 12 school districts in Florida, Indiana, and Illinois. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that creative artwork by K-12 students can be empirically assessed using quantitative measures that are consistent with the philosophical assumptions of authentic learning and with the means and ends of art, and that these measures can reliably assess student art growth. A further goal was to provide a rationale for the assessment of student art as an essential part of the K-12 instructional program and to encourage art teachers to take responsibility for and assume a leadership role in the assessment of art learning in the school and the school district. Assessing Expressive Learning: *reports on current assessment methods but also stresses a time-tested portfolio assessment process that can be used or adapted for use in any K-12 art classroom; *includes the assessment instruments used in the study and several case studies of art teachers using electronic portfolios of student work, a bibliography of major art assessment efforts, and a critical review of current methods; *is designed to be teacher- and system-friendly, unlike many other art assessment publications that provide only a review of information on assessment; and *both documents an experiment where artistic values and aesthetic issues were considered paramount in the education of K-12 students in the visual arts, and also serves as a guide for the conduct of similar experiments by art teachers in the nation's schools--the research methodology and results are reported in an appendix in a format that will enable educational researchers to duplicate the study. This volume is ideal as a text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate classes in visual arts education assessment, and highly relevant for college art education professors, researchers, and school district personnel involved in the education and supervision of art teachers, and researchers interested in performance measurement.

In the context of the evolution of education program evaluation and the current emphasis on scientific precision, this special issue presents several of the challenges to program evaluation that scholars are facing today. In addition, it shares recent insights and experiences that will contribute to continued improvement of program evaluation and responds to the call for more exactness without losing sight of the lessons learned from evaluation over the past several decades. The eight papers address five main areas: evaluation design, instrumentation, implementation, politics, and analysis. As a whole, this issue is designed shed light on the five issues, as well as provide information useful for those interested in increasing the rigor of education research to increase the ability to improve schools.

Two of the most interesting conceptual turns in Richard E. Snow's thinking called for: a broadening of the concept of aptitude to include not only cognitive processes, but also affective and cognative processes as essential for understanding academic performance and learning; and an exploration of the possibility that individual differences in learning and achievement emerge from dynamic person-situation transactions that unfold over time. The articles in this special issue address these "big ideas" through the lens of a study of high school students' achievement in science.

Present Successes and Future Challenges in Honors Education is the first volume in an edited series examining the proliferation of honors programs and colleges in American higher education. While honors education has become ubiquitous in American higher education, this transformation has happened without systematic attempts to align what honors means across institutions, and absent a universally agreed upon definitions of what honors is and what it might aspire to be in the future. This generates possibility and flexibility, while also creating rather serious challenges. The contributors document the decades-long structural transformations that led to the rise of honors education while also providing perspective on the present and future challenges in honors education. The chapters address such issues as ensuring equity in honors, how we ought to think about student success and frame this for external stakeholders, and how the diffusion of honors-inspired pedagogies elsewhere in the university forces us to rethink our mission and our day-to-day practice. Throughout, their investigations are grounded in the present while turning a keen and perceptive eye to the future.

Although inner-city nontraditional students have native ability, Miller contends that they often lack the educational background to handle college-level mathematics courses. In Teaching College Algebra: Reversing the Effects of Social Promotion, Miller provides a user-friendly guide for teaching algebra, including trigonometry, finite mathematics, and statistics to students who are the victims of school social promotion practices. Teaching College Algebra discusses how to present material to students who are inadequately prepared, ways to build self-confidence, and advice for developing a new teaching style appropriate to the task of preparing nontraditional students for college-level mathematics. In addition to including a complete discussion on the basic principles of algebra, the book provides helpful chapter summaries, course outlines, word problems, and timetables. It will be of great assistance to teachers, college professors, and parents.

This book highlights the impact of policy and politics on assessment across the globe. With contributions from England, the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wales, it explores state-led assessment policies and practices that have been the subject of much debate. We are experiencing a shift from using assessments - especially national tests - as measurement instruments designed to produce information, to a reliance on tests to influence policy and instruction. Once tests become high stakes - for students, teachers, and schools - even those that might have been reasonable monitors of educational success can lose dependability and credibility. However, not all countries' assessment policies follow the same model and the contributors explore and analyse a range of different national (and supra-national) assessment policy approaches and perspectives. The chapters identify the impetus behind changing assessment policies and practices and analyse ways forward and innovative approaches. Readers can draw their own conclusions about which model(s) can provide the best outcomes for learners - surely the most important part of the equation. This book was originally published as a special issue of Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice.

This special issue was motivated by the move from research to operations for computerized delivery and scoring of complex constructed response items. The four papers presented provide an overview of the state of the art for such applications. The issue begins by describing the range of computer delivered formats and computerized scoring systems that are currently in use. The remaining papers provide three views of validity in the context of computer delivered and scoring assessments. It is hoped that together, these articles will provide the reader with both an appreciation of the state of the art for computer-automated scoring systems, as well as a perspective on the issues that must be considered and the evidence that must be collected to produce automated scoring systems that allow for valid inference.

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.

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.

There has been much debate on the purposes and methods of assessment over the last couple of years. This book gathers together the latest thinking and looks at how assessment can be used to promote or inhibit learning. Issues discussed include how assessment can erode self-esteem and motivation, how skills of reflection, self-evaluation and personal target setting can impact on learning, how far learners of all ages understand what they are required to learn, how far students are able to evaluate their own performance and what schools can do in the short, medium and long-term to promote more effective learning.
Part of the What's in it for Schools series, this book is ideal for teachers and other non-academics concerned with education who require a grounding in the issue to help them in their daily work.

This book is a step-by-step guide for improving student learning in higher education. The authors argue that a fundamental obstacle to improvement is that higher educators, administrators, and assessment professionals do not know how to improve student learning at scale. By this they mean improvement efforts that span an entire program, affecting all affiliated students. The authors found that faculty and administrators particularly struggle to conceptualize and implement multi-section, multi-course improvement efforts. It is unsurprising that ambitious, wide-reaching improvement efforts like these would pose difficulty in their organization and implementation. This is precisely the problem the authors address. The book provides practical strategies for learning improvement, enabling faculty to collaborate, and integrating leadership, social dynamics, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and faculty development. In Chapter 2, the authors tell a program-level improvement story from the perspective of a faculty member. Chapter 3 inverts Chapter 2. Beginning from the re-assess stage, the authors work their way back to the individual faculty member first pondering whether she can do something to impact students' skills. They peel back each layer of the process and imagine how learning improvement efforts might be thwarted at each stage. Chapters 4 through 9 dig deeper into the learning improvement steps introduced in Chapters 2 and 3. Each chapter provides strategies to help higher educators climb each step successfully. Chapter 10 paints a picture of what higher education could look like in 2041 if learning improvement were embraced. And, finally, Chapter 11 describes what you can do to support the movement.

There has been much debate on the purposes and methods of assessment over the last couple of years. This book gathers together the latest thinking and looks at how assessment can be used to promote or inhibit learning. Issues discussed include how assessment can erode self-esteem and motivation, how skills of reflection, self-evaluation and personal target setting can impact on learning, how far learners of all ages understand what they are required to learn, how far students are able to evaluate their own performance and what schools can do in the short, medium and long-term to promote more effective learning.
Part of the What's in it for Schools series, this book is ideal for teachers and other non-academics concerned with education who require a grounding in the issue to help them in their daily work.

The second edition of University Teaching in Focus distils the knowledge and insights of internationally acclaimed experts in university teaching. It empowers university teachers and contributes to their career success by developing their teaching skills, strategies and knowledge. Written in a clear and accessible style, it provides a sharp focus on student learning through the lens of four sections: Focus on subject and curriculum design Focus on subject teaching and learning Focus on students Focus on your career Each of the 15 chapters targets a key teaching and learning issue referencing seminal works, current resources and practical applications using real-world cases. The 'Your thoughts' sections encourage reflection and offer opportunities to adapt international evidence about best practice to local contexts and disciplines. This edition will be a key resource for foundational teaching development programs in higher education institutions or as a self-help manual by early career and experienced teachers who wish to enhance their students' learning.

Volume 14, Number 1, 2002. Contents: J.R. Lewis, Introduction. ARTICLES: D.J. Gillan, R.G. Bias, Usability Science 1: Foundation. H.R. Hartson, T.S. Andre, R.C. Williges, Criteria for Evaluating Usability Evaluation Methods. R.E. Cordes, Task Selection Bias: A Case for User-Defined Tasks. M. Hertzum, N.E. Jacobsen, The Evaluator Effect: A Chilling Fact About Usability Evaluation Methods. J.R. Lewis, Evaluation of Procedures for Adjusting Problem-Discovery Rates Estimated From Small Samples. M. Hassenzahl, The Effect of Perceived Hedonic Quality on Product Appealingness.

While assessment may feel to constituents like an activity of accountability simply for accreditors, it is most appropriate to approach assessment as an activity of accountability for students. Assessment results that improve institutional effectiveness, heighten student learning, and better align resources serve to make institutions stronger for the benefit of their students, and those results also serve the institution or program well during the holistic evaluation required through accreditation." - from the foreword by Heather Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education Colleges and universities struggle to understand precisely what is being asked for by accreditors, and this book answers that question by sharing examples of success reported by schools specifically recommended by accreditors. This compendium gathers examples of assessment practice in twenty-four higher education institutions: twenty-three in U.S. and one in Australia. All institutions represented in this book were suggested by their accreditor as having an effective assessment approach in one or more of the following assessment focused areas: assessment in the disciplines, co-curricular, course/program/institutional assessment, equity and inclusion, general education, online learning, program review, scholarship of teaching and learning, student learning, or technology. These examples recommended by accrediting agencies makes this a unique contribution to the assessment literature. The book is organized in four parts. Part One is focused on student learning and assessment and includes ten chapters. The primary focus for Part Two is student learning assessment from a disciplinary perspective and includes four chapters. Part Three has a faculty engagement and assessment focus, and Part Four includes four chapters on institutional effectiveness and assessment, with a focus on strategic planning. This book is a publication of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), an organization of practitioners interested in using effective assessment practice to document and improve student learning.

Promoting Assessment as Learning sets out to re-examine the relationship between assessment and learning in the classroom. It argues that assessment is an important part of pupil learning, and needs to be understood by pupils in order to help them make judgements about their own progress.
This timely book explores the theories of learning and assessment within the context of national tests and also through the theme of self-assessment. It offers practical approaches to help teachers translate national policy into meaningful classroom practice, and suggests ways to help pupils develop their own assessment skills through a process of consolidation, reflection and revision.
This book will appeal to new and practising primary school teachers and headteachers and those on in-service courses. It will also be of interest to students on initial teacher training and higher degree courses.

eBook available with sample pages: PB:0415240077 EB:020347015X

Contents:
1. Using Portfolios for a Range of Purposes 2. Key Processes in Portfolio Development 3. Key Concepts in Portfolio Assessment 4. Problems and Pitfalls 5. A Case Study 6. Possibilities and Principles 7. Portfolios and Changes in Assessment

This book, written by two nationally renowned scholars in the area of ethics in higher education, is intended to help teachers and administrators understand and handle problems of academic dishonesty. Chock-full of practical advice, the book is divided into three parts. Part I reviews the existing published literature about academic dishonesty among college and university students and how faculty members respond to the problem. Part II presents practical advice designed to help college and university instructors and administrators deal proactively and effectively with academic dishonesty. Part III considers the broader question of academic integrity as a system-wide issue within institutions of higher education.

The fourth volume in this practical series deals with one of the ubiquitous HE & FE subjects. With a straightforward, authoritative and practice-based approach to this vast subject, this book will be important reading for educators seeking to develop their assessment practice. As with the other books in the series, the book will appeal to a wide range of HE professionals. It avoids being overly academic, instead using a fascinating case study format to detail a wide range of approaches to assessment. In addition to this unique approach, the book covers new assessment techniques, such as assessment by portfolio, peer assessment and computer-assisted assessment, all of which are high on the academic agenda. The case studies are international, focusing on the UK, Australia/New Zealand, and the United States.