Despite a history of conflicting research on its reliability and validity, student evaluation of faculty (SEF) has typically not been viewed as an infringement on academic freedom; it has generally been taken for granted that SEF is appropriate and necessary. However, informal and reasoned analyses of the issue indicate that because SEF is used…

Career certainty refers to the degree to which individuals feel confident, or decided, about their occupational plans. Since Parsons first classified people into career-decided and career-undecided groups, counseling researchers and practitioners have worked to formally assess career choice status. These efforts have yielded two generations of…

This Digest provides a rationale for developing grading guides to use with business writing students. It describes the methods business communications teachers can use to construct and employ guides to provide students with quality writing instruction. The Digest maintains that teachers can construct either skills analysis grading guides and/or…

This digest discusses some of the practical implications of using alternative methods of assessing students in foreign or second language classrooms. First, assessment and testing are contrasted, and assessment is defined as an ongoing strategy through which student learning is not only monitored, but by which students are involved in making…

Developed by the National Council of Teachers of English Committee to Evaluate Curriculum Guidelines and Competency Requirements, this guide is intended to help teachers and administrators develop exemplary English language arts curricula. The first half of the booklet presents an annotated list of committee-recommended curriculum guides,…

The essays in this collection argue that community colleges have much to gain by seeking out and maintaining positive recognition of the features that distinguish them from other colleges in the region and state. In addition, the sourcebook contains articles discussing the process of conducting a search for institutional distinctiveness and ways…

This book describes the policy initiatives and economic realities that influence the design of programs for adult English language learners, demonstrating how the agendas of each stakeholder can be reconciled in a way that renders them mutually supportive. It focuses on the commonalities among stakeholder goals. It equips instructors to provide…

This digest is intended to help teachers select good resources to use in their instruction by providing a checklist to evaluate online educational materials. The following major topic areas to consider when evaluating World Wide Web-based materials for use in instructional settings, as well as sub-questions in each area, are outlined: (1) Judge…

This digest considers the use of performance assessment within outcomes-based accountability systems for students with and without disabilities. Application of performance assessment to students with disabilities involves defining the outcomes, developing performance standards, developing assessment accommodations, and scoring. Implications of…

This brief information sheet presents two strategies to motivate gifted students and is based on the book, "Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom", by Susan Winebrenner. The curriculum compacting strategy allows students to spend less time with the regular curriculum and more time with extension and enrichment activities. The…

This book offers detailed and complex guidance, and the necessary techniques, for grading college students' writing. It examines why it is important to integrate grading into the writing process; the need for effective writing assignments; ensuring fair professorial judgments; promoting student learning; helping students learn how to respond…

Explores the problems faced in the testing of reading. Discusses research that assists administrators and instructors in choosing various standardized tests, and describes existing alternatives to traditional forms of testing. (RS)

This digest highlights the rules or best practices that should be followed by educators in evaluating, selecting, and using technology-delivered assessments. The guidelines adhere to existing professional standards and are presented in checklist form so that educators can determine if the use of technology for their assessment programs are of…

Any employment-related English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program, whether conducted on the job or as pre-employment training, results from five steps: conducting a need analysis of the language and cultural awareness needed to perform successfully in the workplace; developing a curriculum, based on objectives, that identifies and prioritizes…

This digest reviews writing assessment--what it means and how it works--at a selected number of colleges and universities in the United States. The digest discusses outcomes assessment, placement testing, placement and the writing process, and end-of-course evaluation. The digest concludes with a brief reminder for college-bound students of what…