This publication examines school and classroom practices that increase students' understanding, raise their achievement, and equip them with knowledge and skills needed in today's world. Several approaches have been identified for high schools to consider in integrating academic and vocational studies: single course integration; joint planning…

This guidebook explains the purpose and rationale for initiating a portfolio process in the schools. A fundamental authentic assessment principle holds that students should demonstrate, rather than be required to tell or be questioned about, what they know and can do. The use of portfolios has gained significant attention as an alternative to…

As part of the American school reform movement, administrators are searching for ways of measuring students' skills and progress within the system. This book focuses on the qualitative assessment possible through the use of student portfolios, particularly at the college level. It begins with a critical examination of multiple-choice, standardized…

Intended to give teachers some ideas about how they can implement portfolios in their classrooms, this book contains reproductions of actual materials used by teachers in classrooms as well as examples of students' portfolios across subjects and grades. It also provides research-based information to help teachers explain portfolio concepts to…

Through a wealth of creative write-to-learn strategies, this book offers inspiring techniques to coax out the reluctant scientists in the classroom. Newly updated and expanded, this NSTA best seller is a storehouse of practical ideas and examples for use with students at all ability levels. It provides classroom-tested writing activities that…

This book contains hands-on language arts activities for K-3 children. Activities in the book help develop skills in the six language arts while continually reinforcing how much fun learning can be. The book's teacher-friendly format breaks down each activity into the following components: objectives, materials, preparation, procedure, summary,…

Aiming to disprove the media's insistence that American schools are typically ill-equipped to teach children from low-income neighborhoods, this book describes a primary school teacher's use of a blend of meaningful and interesting reading material, early writing practice, speaking, and explicit instruction. It describes teaching methods in great…

This 1993 yearbook presents 20 papers and summaries of the dissertation award winner "Content Literacy in High School Social Studies: A Focus on One Teacher's Beliefs and Decisions about Classroom Discussions" (E. G. Sturtevant) and the thesis award winner "Effects of Direct Instruction of Story Grammar on Story Writing and Reading…

This book suggests that portfolios can become a new kind of credential of competent and effective teachers. The book includes 5 parts with 16 chapters. Part 1, "Prologue," offers: (1) "Portfolio Possibilities: Validating a New Teacher Professionalism" (Nona Lyons) and (2) "Teacher Portfolios: A Theoretical Activity"…

This book is designed to help teachers, especially secondary school teachers, create and use performance assessments. The basic concept is that teachers must plan backwards from outcomes of education to shift the paradigm of curriculum-instruction-testing to a new and more fluid design. The book presents a wide variety of assessment approaches…

A guide to what college-bound students need to know to prepare the most effective college application is presented by three former college admissions officers. Step-by-step strategies are offered to help students take control of the application process and use it to their best advantage. Three basic areas of a college application are examined:…

For use by K-12 teachers or specialists, this book presents an informal classroom tool for assessing reading processes which is rooted in contemporary research and practice. The book features separate assessments for narrative and expository retelling, portfolio checklists to help analyze results, modeled "think-alouds," and an annotated…

This book presents 93 essays that offer guidance, reassurance, and commentary on the many activities leading up to and surrounding classroom instruction in first-year composition. Essays in the book are written by instructors who teach in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, state university systems, and research institutions. The 14 section…

Portfolios are developmental pictures of students' progress, providing alternative ways to evaluate both products and processes of students' learning. Portfolios also serve as vehicles for involving students in self-evaluation and goal-setting. This sourcebook was written to help teachers begin to use portfolios as an authentic assessment method.…

"Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in Higher Education" provides a resource for researchers and practitioners in the area of computer-supported collaborative learning (also known as CSCL); particularly those working within a tertiary education environment. It includes articles of relevance to those interested in both theory and practice in…