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.

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 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.

* Fills a gap in the market as the only guide to this early stage of Business and Management research projects, covering the topic in much more depth than Research Methods texts currently available. * Suitable for a huge cohort of students across Advanced Undergraduate and Postgraduate Business and Management degrees in which Research Methods is typically core * Provides a clear step-by-step guide to the full process of writing a research proposal, from the initial stages of choosing a topic, to writing the proposal, with additional information on getting the most from the project. * Includes examples from real-life student projects to demonstrate best practice.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

This work provides guidance for special and mainstream schools in the assessment of pupils' learning from level P1 up to and including National Curriculum level 1A. It contains exemplification of the descriptions of attainment for reading, writing and the three strands of maths identified in "Planning, Teaching and Assessing the Currriculum for Pupils with Learning Difficulties" produced by the QCA.;The book: provides clarification of the performance criteria, through illustrative examples; supports accurate and consistent teacher assessment of pupils working at these levels; enables effective monitoring of attainment and progression, which will support the target setting process; demonstrates how assessments can be used to inform next steps in learning; includes examples from special and mainstream schools on reading, writing and mathematics; and contains photocopiable proformas.

Contributors to the volume represent an international "who's who" of research scientists from the fields of psychology and measurement. It offers the insights of these leading authorities regarding cognition and personality. In particular, they address the roles of constructs and values in clarifying the theoretical and empirical work in these fields, as well as their relation to educational assessment. It is intended for professionals and students in psychology and assessment, and almost anyone doing research in cognition and personality.

This volume brings together leading researchers in a major new effort to bridge the historical gap between the domains of ability and personality. The result is a remarkable collection of chapters analyzing critical issues at the interface--style, structure, process, and context. Contributors address:
* intelligence and its relation to temperament and character-hierarchical models of cognition and personality; judgmental data in personality research; and structural issues in ability and personality;
* intelligence and conation-goal theories; the role of conation in the learning environment; motivation and arousal;
* intelligence and style-stylistic preferences; the role of disposition; cognitive style and its measurement; test taking style; and
* intelligence and personality in context-regularities of functioning; contextual effects in cultural variation; control and consistency; the concept of "successful intelligence."

"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.

This specially commissioned collection of perspectives offers an analysis of the new organisation of the teaching profession - reconstructed around the notion of performance and the implications of a performance culture. The Performing School examines the roots, directions and implications of the new structure by drawing together insights from policy, research and practice at this time of rapid change and debate. This unique volume addresses three interconnected issues of modernisation and education:
*what is the background to and significance of performance management in modernising schools and teachers at the present time?
*what are the likely future effects of a performance culture on teaching, learning and schooling?
*what will it take to ensure that performance management improves pedagogy and professionality beyond the narrow confines of performativity, managerialism and market reform in education?

This specially commissioned collection of perspectives offers an analysis of the new organisation of the teaching profession - reconstructed around the notion of performance and the implications of a performance culture. The Performing School examines the roots, directions and implications of the new structure by drawing together insights from policy, research and practice at this time of rapid change and debate. This unique volume addresses three interconnected issues of modernisation and education:
*what is the background to and significance of performance management in modernising schools and teachers at the present time?
*what are the likely future effects of a performance culture on teaching, learning and schooling?
*what will it take to ensure that performance management improves pedagogy and professionality beyond the narrow confines of performativity, managerialism and market reform in education?

Who's the New Kid in Chemistry? offers an unprecedented look at student engagement and teacher best practices through the eyes of an educational researcher enrolled as a public high school student. Over the course of seventy-nine consecutive days, John D. Butler participates in and observes Rhode Island 2013 Teacher of the Year Jessica M. Waters's high school chemistry class, documenting his experiences as they unfold. Who's the New Kid in Chemistry? is a compelling example of what can be accomplished when an educational researcher and teacher collaborate in the classroom. This work includes a discussion on flexible homework assignments, data-driven instruction, and thirty teacher best practices. This book is an invaluable resource for teachers across all content areas, masters and doctoral research method classes, and future Teachers of the Year.

With the Common Core poised to markedly amplify the accountability stakes in public education, the pressure to post steep outcomes gains has never been fiercer. Unsurprisingly, flashy and expensive school improvement initiatives that promise quick fix solutions have become pervasively en vogue across the K-12 landscape. As Justin A. Collins compellingly demonstrates in Burning Cash, these flashy acronym reform plans provide for abundantly vivid theatre, but offer no muscle for the heavy lifting required to transform instructional quality. Collins pens a forceful case that despite the dizzying change swirling around the classroom walls, student engagement remains a fixture of a paramount importance. Taking a decided detour from the student engagement literature to date, Burning Cash spells out an entirely fresh means of numerically charting student engagement levels across all classrooms over time. Were the status quo to instead persist, a high school diploma will remain the end of the educational line for millions of schoolchildren. By reliably quantifying the nature of student engagement at the classroom level, teachers and administrators are supplied a powerfully telling barometer by which to gauge educational quality. Also left at educational leaders' disposal are data-informed guideposts that illuminate the improvement work left to be done. As Los Angeles Schools' John Deasy champions in the book's foreword, when student higher-order thinking balloons and disengagement is eradicated, test score spikes are extreme and sustained, no matter the school district's zip code. And that means the promise of the American dream is enlivened without additionally burdening deficit-riddled budgets.

This work sets out to help teachers assess pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties, multisensory impairments and other complex needs in a relevant and meaningful way. It offers teachers structure, guidance and a holistic approach to assessment, target setting, planning, recording, attainment and pupil progress throughout his or her school life.;The book should enable teachers to prioritize areas for developing small-steps, skill-based learning objectives and it should help them to assist with ongoing assessment review.

This special issue is a case study of a recent legal challenge to a graduation test, "GI Forum v. Texas Education Agency." Its purpose is to provide updated, relevant information to the many statewide and district testing programs, measurement professionals, and policymakers currently involved with the implementation of new educational standards and tests. The GI Forum Court's decision provides a road map for creating legally defensible graduation tests, and by analogy, may also provide useful guidance for other high stakes uses of standardized achievement tests. The "GI Forum" case is an extension of the landmark Debra P. v. Turlington case.