An issue in the current push for reform in mathematics education is the call to address statistics at the precollege level. This volume represents the emerging findings of an interdisciplinary collaboration among a group of mathematics educators, cognitive scientists, teachers, and statisticians to construct an understanding of how to introduce statistics education and assessment for students in elementary and secondary schools. A premise shared by the contributors to this volume is that when students are introduced to statistics at the K-12 level and provided with opportunities to "do" statistics that are related to actual life situations, they will be better prepared for decision making in the real world.
The interdisciplinary nature of the group of researchers stimulated a lively interchange of ideas for enhancing the learning, teaching, and assessment of statistical understanding, which is reflected in this volume. Mathematics educators contribute their insights into how teachers teach mathematical ideas and heighten our awareness of the ecological needs of the current mathematics classroom. Cognitive scientists share their understanding of developmental differences in learning and present theoretical perspectives that contribute to the design of effective learning environments. Classroom teachers share their ideas about classroom activities and assessment of student learning, as well as their concerns for in-service training and workshops to help teachers acquire skills in this new content area. Statisticians offer their understanding of what is feasible to teach in the early grades, and what their view is of statistical literacy.
The book is organized around four interdependent themes: content, teaching, learning, and assessment. By focusing their respective chapters on particular themes, the authors intend to cultivate a better understanding of how each relates to improvements in statistics education. This is the first book to:
* address statistics learning in grades K-12,
* address issues of statistical curriculum content in grades K-12,
* address issues of assessment of statistics learning in grades K-12,
* bring issues of technology instruction and assessment in statistics education in grades K-12, and
* look at teacher education for statistics instruction in grades K-12.
This is a must-read book for both practitioners and researchers involved in K-12 mathematics education.

This second book focuses directly on the classroom, on the challenges individual teachers face in the classroom-based assessment, and how these challenges have been and are being met in a range of international contexts.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the history and current status of policy, research and practices of curriculum, classroom instruction and assessment in Japan. It outlines the mechanism of curriculum organization and the history of the National Courses of Study, and assesses the theories of academic ability model. It also discusses in detail the history of "Lesson Study" - a characteristic teaching practice in Japan which utilizes groups, and reviews the history of educational assessment in Japan. Case studies on the practice of portfolio assessment in the Period for Integrated Study, as well as the practice of performance tasks in subject-based education are illustrated to show various examples of teaching practices. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in Japan explores: * Child-centered Curriculum and Discipline-Centered Curriculum * Theories based on Models of Academic Achievement and Competency * Various Methods for Organizing Creative Whole-Class Teaching * Performance Assessment in Subject Teaching A good guideline for those who would like to use the idea of "Lesson Study" in order to improve their own teaching and management practices and a reference to all working in educational improvement, this book will be of interest to educators and policymakers concerned with curriculum practices or those with an interest in the Japanese education system.

This special issue is based on a workshop which began with a description and examination of the current National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) standard-setting model, then looked to standard-setting applications outside of education. These applications included those that focus on human performance and the adequacy of human performance; in these contexts, raters were asked to focus on the knowledge and skills that underlie competent performance. Researchers also examined applications that focus on the impact of environmental agents on life and the ecology; in these cases, raters began with the knowledge that more (or less) of a substance is better and, as for NAEP, the judgment task was to determine "how good is good enough." They wished to examine parallels in the objectives, empirical grounding, judgmental requirements, and policy tensions for standard setting in NAEP and in other domains. These papers were commissioned to examine the current state of affairs and residual issues with respect to achievement-level setting in NAEP and to help determine whether the models and methods used in other disciplines have useful application to education. It is important to note that the papers represent the authors' views, not necessarily those of the committee or National Research Council. This issue and the workshop discussion point out a number of analogies between the objectives, requisite data, judgment requirements and policy issues for NAEP and other applications. The editors hope that this issue and wide distribution of these papers will prompt others to join in this interesting analysis and debate.

Full Contributors:
Donna E. Alvermann, University of Georgia, USA, Mary Bailey, University of Nottingham, UK, Paul Brock, NSW Department of Training and Education, Australia, Greg Brooks, National Foundation for Educational Research, UK, Jay Campbell, Education Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, Michelle Commeyras, University of Georgia, USA, Lizanne DeStefano University of Illinois, USA, Alan Dewar, Dukeries Community College, Nottinghamshire, UK, Beverly Falk Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA, Georgia Ernest Garcia, University of Illinois, USA, Colin Harrison University of Nottingham, UK, Louise Hayward St Andrew's College, Glasgow, UK, Jim Hoffman, University of Texas, USA, Sue Horner, Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority, UK, P. David Pearson, Michigan State University, USA, Terry Salinger, International Reading Association, USA, Ernie Spencer, Scottish Office Education and Industry Department, UK, Denis Vincent, University of East London, UK

This volume provides in-depth coverage of a key piece of today's human resource selection technology--the viability of alternatives to paper and pencil multiple-choice selection tests. Each chapter of this edited volume presents an intensive examination of a key "alternative to multiple-choice testing." The content of the book's chapters ranges from reviews of issues associated with, and evidence available for, the use of particular selection text alternatives (computerized testing, performance assessments) to empirical investigation of other alternatives (biodata, creative skills); from examination of standards for choosing among selection tests to practitioners' and test takers' perspectives. This book is important for researchers and practitioners in the human resource selection field who have wanted a resource that provides a comprehensive examination of multiple-choice selection testing and its alternatives.

This text puts forward the argument that higher education must develop better and more consistent practices with regards to the evaluation of training and development. Most evaluations are valueless unless they start by clarifying the puropse they are intended to serve, and this usually means clarifying whose puropses are being served. This text provides a guide to best practices and uses examples and case studies from both the UK and abroad to show the benefits that can be gained from using evaluation effectively.

Owing to daily work pressures and concerns, many teachers have little opportunity for considering and furthering their understanding of different issues surrounding assessment. Written in a user-friendly, jargon-free style, this text provides the reader with points of growth or change in the field of assessment. Each chapter in the text ends with a section on questions/exercises and further reading.

Educational assessment, at one time a relatively uncontroversial subject, is now riven by a diversity of views. The most crucial division is between those who continue to believe in the effectiveness of objective assessment techniques and those who favour alternative methods. This book presents an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and rationales for both.

Educational assessment, at one time a relatively uncontroversial subject, is now riven by a diversity of views. The most crucial division is between those who continue to believe in the effectiveness of objective assessment techniques and those who favour alternative methods. This book presents an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and rationales for both.

How students are assessed can determine not only the quality, type, and degree of education they receive, but has long-term consequences for their future. Assessment by standardized testing often labels poor and minority children in ways that exclude them from opportunities, while failing to measure their true potential. Assessment for Equity and Inclusion confronts the debate between standardized testing and alternative assessment methods, locating strategies of assessment by which students are included rather than excluded. This collection initiates a substantive discussion on assessment, presenting multiple possibilities of innovative practice from various theoretical, historical, practical, and critical perspectives. After describing the historical and political framework of assessment and its alternatives, the contributors then move on to describe their own successful strategies. They also address broader conflicts in curriculum and the issues that must be faced in order to finally realize meaningful and equitable evaluation.

There have been many important changes in the participation of women and men in American society over the past quarter-century. Tests play a role in those changes by providing evidence of the diverse achievement and proficiency of women and men. They aid the learning process and reflect inequalities in opportunity to learn and participate. In addition, they provide useful information in considering what alternatives in education and work make most sense for individuals and influence views about groups of students, educational programs, and a wide range of issues. For all of these reasons, it is important that tests assess fairly and reflect accurately the ways young people are and are not achieving as well as desired.
The test performance of women and men is a research topic of historical interest and has received much attention in recent years. Because of this increased interest, there is a great deal of new research and data available. The purpose of the study presented in this volume was to review this new information with two objectives in mind:
*to clarify patterns of gender difference and similarity in test performance and related achievements, and
*to see what implications those findings might have for fair assessment and, as a corollary, examine the assessment process as a possible source of gender differences.
This study is interested in tests used in education to assess developed knowledge and skill. In order to gain a broader view of gender similarity and difference, the contributors looked at other types of measures and other characteristics of young women and men. Their hope is to contribute to a firmer basis for insuring fairness in tests--an objective which is particularly important as the field moves increasingly to new forms of assessment in which there is less experience.

This book was created to be your "how to" guide. What clearly sets it apart is the inclusion of comprehensive explanations of standards, descriptions of discrete core skills, and outlining of strategies to ensure that leaders - regardless of experience - are able to directly apply improved observation and feedback practices. We provide you with explicit think-alouds, strategies, and authentic lesson examples from the field through each step of the process so that this book serves as a comprehensive learning tool for leaders in all roles and experience levels. Because the content of the book is developed through our experience facilitating embedded professional learning, all of the examples are from learning sessions, authentic feedback, and live observations.

Since the end of the 1990s, the Chinese higher education system has seen a dramatic expansion of enrolment. China currently has the largest higher education system in the world, however, the rapid growth resulted in concerns being raised about the quality of the system. In response, an array of external quality assessment schemes of higher education has been established, based on suggested policy designs and reforms. The establishment of an effective quality assurance mechanism is a major challenge for universities around the world, therefore, what experience and lessons can be learned from the Chinese practice? This book analyses the external quality assurance system of higher education in China. It brings together scholarship on this topic by renowned Chinese experts, reporting and discussing recent policy developments and research. It presents and analyses various quality evaluation schemes, covering undergraduate, postgraduate, and vocational levels of higher education. The theoretical roots and value orientation of Chinese higher education quality assurance are also reflected on. This volume was originally published as a special issue of Chinese Education and Society.

The accreditation of prior learning (APL) is a key component of the current drive towards competence-based education and training. The author of this guide emphasizs that APL is now part of the continuum of learning, not a stand-alone assessment service. This second edition has been broadened to include the needs of APL for employers, including case studies, the contribution of the Access of Assessment Initiative in TECs, the Accreditation of Unpaid Work projects and other fundamental developments such as IiP and NVQs.

Assessing media education is a formidable task because both assessment and media education are complex and controversial concepts. Assessment, which can take place at the individual student, class, sequence, program, department or unit, and university levels, is questioned in terms of reliability, validity, relevance, and cost. Media education, which has been challenged at a number of schools, finds faculty and administrators in the midst of soul-searching about how to clearly articulate its missions and purposes to a broader audience.
Departments are under increasing national, state, and institutional pressure to get assessment procedures carried out quickly, but there is an obvious danger in rushing to implement assessment strategies before establishing what is essential in media education. In communication education in general, the "what" of assessment is often discussed in terms of skills, attitudes, affect, values, and knowledge. People assess students to determine what they know, think, feel, value, and can do. Here it is suggested that one of the places to start defining what students should learn from their media education is by identifying outcomes. Outcomes can be assessed in a variety of ways, but first they need to be developed and clearly articulated.

This collection presents educational assessment research from Latin America, adding to a relatively small but growing body of research considering educational assessment and evaluation issues in this large region. The predominance of Chile reflects its early highly centralized education system, and the fact that it adopted national testing before other Latin American countries. It was also an early participant in international assessment programmes. Other countries have followed the trend of implementing national testing, and to a lesser extent participating in international surveys. The complementary development of technical expertise in quantitative research methods has enabled extensive analysis of the large data sets generated by these testing and assessment programmes. Taken together, the evidence reported provides a means not only of reviewing educational quality issues in Latin America, but also of facilitating comparisons that allow the context specificity of equivalent research conducted in western developed countries to be considered. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice.

This guide contains an overview of existing successful appraisal practices and practical suggestions for both those managing and undertaking appraisal. The book takes into account up-to-date policies and changes in appraisal.

This book enables the lecturer to explore issues, dilemmas and situations which confront the stakeholders in further and higher education. These dilemmas include competency models of learning and assessment, resource issues in assessment, the pressures of overwork on lecturers, and the maintenance of personal integrity. The book explores how assessment and evaluation of student learning and tutors teaching are affected by institutional and governmental arrangements.

Using case studies from schools and colleges, this book outlines different forms of assessment, highlights their purposes, and provides practical guidelines to their implementation.

Environmental pragmatism is a new strategy in environmental thought. It argues that theoretical debates are hindering the ability of the environmental movement to forge agreement on basic policy imperatives. This new direction in environmental thought moves beyond theory, advocating a serious inquiry into the merits of moral pluralism. Environmental pragmatism, as a coherent philosophical position, connects the methodology of classical American pragmatic thought to the explanation, solution and discussion of real issues.
This concise, well-focused collection is the first comprehensive presentation of environmental pragmatism as a new philosophical approach to environmental thought and policy.

The contributions in this book highlight a topical common educational theme - the model of outcomes-orientated standards in education. The authors share their experience and knowledge on the global preoccupation with quality control models that deal

Equipped with cultural tools like cell phones, computers and video cameras, youth are called upon to improvise and construct themselves symbolically in a continuously connected world; yet new teachers and students are still expected to learn and deliver standardized, placeless forms of scripted curriculum. This volume argues for improvisation as an approach to curriculum that recognizes the fundamentally creative aspects of learning that are often marginalized in communities of disadvantage. It provides interesting possibilities for schools that are working hard to keep up with technological, economic and cultural change, and argues for an improvised middle ground between structure and creativity. This volume outlines a two-year research project performed in a Canadian middle school, where school staff used student filmmaking as a way to expand teachers' conceptions of literacy. It analyzes the response of students and parents as well as the student teachers that brought the program to the school. The improvisational techniques used while making the films paved the way for larger benefits of curricular improvisation to be explored.

Self-assessment is increasingly used in higher education as a strategy for both student learning and assessment. This book examines the full range of concerns about self-assessment, placing it in the wider context of innovative teaching and learning practices.

This innovative book offers a new approach to assessment in which learners can follow their own learning journey using cumulative feedback or measurements of distance travelled from different starting points. Education currently mirrors the values and practices of a highly competitive world with testing, grading and monitoring of standards becoming its driving forces. Competition may stimulate high achievers, but may also demotivate or even damage the rest. Ipsative feedback (on progress) and personal learning gain measurements are often hidden. A range of global case studies from school and higher education illustrate four themes: the benefits of ipsative feedback, making good use of learning gain measurement, the challenges of implementing these novel practices and how to combine new approaches with traditional assessment methods. Exploring the difficulties of turning the tables on hierarchies based on achievement and whether it is fair to elevate progress, this book will be the start of conversations about a future that is not obsessed with testing and grades.