Although self-assessment of foreign language skills is not a new topic, it has not yet been widely explored in the Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The current study investigates the potential of self-assessment of foreign language skills in determining proficiency levels of Turkish learners of EFL: 239 learners participated in…

Information communication technologies (ICT) in education is an expanding field, and within this field there is a need for development of effective systems for faculty and learners to communicate feedback and assess performance. The increasing migration of many academic disciplines and courses to an online format has prompted an increased need for…

Poor quality writing skills among undergraduate geography students is a significant concern among university instructors. This article reports on a multipronged strategy aimed at improving student writing in a large, first-year human geography course. The strategy emphasized ways to provide effective feedback through teaching assistant training,…

This study compares the use and efficacy of assessment grading tools within postgraduate education courses in a regional Australian university and a regional university in the US. Specifically, we investigate how the quality of postgraduate education courses can be improved through the use of assessment rubrics or criterion referenced assessment…

Criterion-referenced assessments have become more common around the world, with performance standards being set to differentiate different levels of student performance. However, use of standard setting methods developed in the United States may be complicated by factors related to the political and educational contexts within another country. In…

Report writing is an important employability skill for Engineers and Technologists, and this case study describes how a Technology degree module took a novel approach to developing students' report writing skills. Students learned how to use a criterion-referenced critical evaluation framework for reports and other technological documents. They…

This research has aimed at constructing Criterion Referenced Test to measure the statistical competencies of the Post-graduate Students in Education Colleges in Yemeni Universities, at examining the validity of the test's grades (the descriptive validity and the Domain Selection Validity), at examining the test's grades Reliability according to…

Benchmarking is a process that can take place at both the inter-institutional and intra-institutional level. This paper focuses on benchmarking intra-institutional student learning outcomes using case examples. The findings of the study illustrate the point that when the outcomes statements associated with the mission of the institution are…

From previous research on second language acquisition and early language learning, educators know that young children have a cognitive advantage to learning a foreign language over other age groups (e.g., Garcia-Sierra et al.; Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson; Singleton and Ryan; Werker et al.). More recently, an increase in functional benefits for…

In this article, we tell the story of inquiring about, designing, implementing and studying our enactment of non-traditional assessment practices in our elementary education university methods course. We organized this article using a theater playbill metaphor, starting with a prologue, followed by three acts and an intermission, and concluding…

Using evidence from more than 500 colleges and universities producing nearly half of the nation's new teachers annually, this report answers two questions that go to the heart of whether the demands of teacher preparation are well matched to the demands of the classroom: Are teacher candidates graded too easily, misleading them about their…

The problems of shifting from norm-referenced assessment to criterion-referenced assessment have been identified by several scholars in recent years. These important critiques touch on a number of areas, but neglect a key question about how assessors learn to accomplish what Shay calls a "socially situated interpretive act". Research…

The Texas State University-San Marcos undergraduate healthcare administration program requires all bachelors of health administration (BHA) students to pass a comprehensive examination to demonstrate their knowledge of specific core competencies. This also demonstrates completion of their didactic coursework in order to enter a practical…

The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary evidence of the criterion-related validity of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for reading, mathematics, and written expression with postsecondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID). The participants included 41 postsecondary students with ID enrolled in a 2-year…

Whilst principles of validity, reliability and fairness should be central concerns for the assessment of student learning in higher education, simplistic notions of "transparency" and "explicitness" in terms of assessment criteria should be critiqued more rigorously. This article examines the inherent tensions resulting from CRA's links to both…