I address two issues that were inspired by my work on the Dutch Committee on Tests and Testing (COTAN). The first issue is the understanding of problems test constructors and researchers using tests have of psychometric knowledge. I argue that this understanding is important for a field, like psychometrics, for which the dissemination of…

Using a two-step approach, Van Soest et al. (2010) recently questioned the pertinence of the conclusions drawn by Bootsma and Van Wieringen (1990) with respect to the visual regulation of an exemplary rapid interceptive action: the attacking forehand drive in table tennis. In the first step, they experimentally compared the movement behaviors of…

Self-evaluation is supposed to be a valid, reliable and easy-to-use instrument to commit professionals to external quality assurance. The writing of a self-evaluation report is the first step in most higher education accreditation systems all over the world. Research on accreditation in the Netherlands and Flanders shows that professionals…

Critiques comparative empirical research on the effects of public policy. Provides a framework for the analysis of comparative research. (JDH)

The "Standards for Evaluation of Educational Programs, Projects and Materials" focuses on contextual influences at the individual research project level. Macro-level political and organizational factors can be preconditions for applying the standards at project level. A study of Dutch educational evaluation research is used to illustrate…

International transfer, defined as the process of diffusing a product or idea across national boundaries, has become an increasingly significant source of educational innovation in recent years. In order to analyze the outcomes of an international transfer project, three dimensions should be considered. The first, the amount of change in the…

Responds to Doug Boughton's accompanying essay based on input from notable assessment practices in Europe and Australia. Addresses what is meant by criteria, objectives, and standards and what role they play in visual arts assessment. Offers a model for rethinking the structure of assessment with respect to these components. (DSK)

Responsive evaluation offers a perspective in which evaluation is reframed from the assessment of program interventions on the basis of policy makers' goals to an engagement with and among all stakeholders about the value and meaning of their practice. Responsive evaluators have to be extra sensitive to power relations given the deliberate…

Government's role differs according to whether it restricts itself to creating a structural framework within which institutional performance evaluation takes place or takes the evaluative task on itself. Process-directed and output-directed evaluation are compared, with examples given from the Netherlands. (Author/MSE)

This paper discusses quality as a theme for teacher education in the Netherlands, focusing on definitions of quality, national policies for quality control and quality assessment, the state of the art in educational quality, the future of teaching, and measures to maintain and increase quality. (SM)

Discussion of differences in elementary and secondary school mathematics instruction between the United States and The Netherlands focuses on a Dutch project brought to the United States that uses print materials and software products. Topics addressed include integrating technology into the curriculum; cultural differences; designing assessment;…

Discussion of performance assessment focuses on a study that was part of the International Evaluation of Achievement of computer education that tested students in grades 8 and 11 on word processing performance tasks. Results are examined to determine the useability, reliability, and validity of the process. (eight references) (LRW)