Examines two common errors in evaluation and ways to circumvent them. The first error is faulty pretesting or diagnostic evaluation. The second is failure to monitor student progress and plan instruction in relation to the specified learning goals. (SJL)

Presents a checklist of core behaviors for use in assessing students' strengths, weaknesses, and changes in thinking skills. Lists persistence, decreased impulsivity, flexibility, metacognition, checking for accuracy, problem posing, drawing on past knowledge and experience, transfer of skills to new situations, precision of language, and…

Discusses the uses of teaching portfolios, collections of documents, and reflections designed to assist both administrators and teachers to determine the scope and quality of teacher performance; and reviews pros and cons in their use. Suggests methods for developing portfolios and briefly describes successful portfolio projects. (MAB)

Maintains that teacher-based assessment can be a powerful tool. Defines "informed" assessment, describes its features, and discusses conditions that must occur if teacher-based assessment is to reach its full potential. Discusses strategies that help teachers make day-to-day assessment more meaningful and credible. (SR)

Cites three objections to an article discouraging a checkmark system of grading, including the fact that at times student work should not be judged on the basis of how completely the ideas were developed and the necessity of having other grades in addition to checkmarks and no checkmarks. (DF)

Argues that standards-referenced reporting frameworks, the Australian nationally developed Mathematics Profile in particular, require the use of teacher observation as an essential assessment practice if teachers are to report the full range of demonstrated student achievement. Supports student self-assessment. (14 references) (Author/MKR)

Colleges and universities typically record student achievement through a system of number and grades. This system of documenting student learning is based on the assumption that students progressively carry with them and build on their learning as they advance through courses. However, learning is more than an aggregation of courses and credits.…

This three-part monograph on human resource development is intended for counselors who wish to translate their counseling skills and experience to work with business and industry. Part I presents an overview of the field of human resource development (HRD) emphasizing the counselor as an HRD professional. Chapter I discusses the application to…

Suggests that informal reading inventories (IRIs) should include both narrative and expository passages. Describes a study of several reading inventories indicating that some current secondary school IRIs have been constructed with some consistency of text types, but failed to reveal a clear picture of text structure for the inventories. (HTH)

Discusses the fundamental principles of evaluation to show that the conventional approaches to testing have led to a situation where procedure requirements overshadow the objectives of the learning process. Advocates instruments that address realistic communication goals and states criteria based on the learner's need for continous, constructive…

Informal assessment ties evaluation and teaching together. Through systematic observation, teachers gather useful, instructional information as learners engage in the processes of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Informal assessment measures suggested by researchers and language arts teachers include anecdotal records, informal…

Developmental theories, especially the moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, can enhance the teaching of adolescent literature. Expanding on J. Piaget's model of moral development, Kohlberg's model consists of three levels--preconventional, conventional, and postconventional--subdivided into six stages: (1) punishment and obedience, (2)…

Qualitative research that takes into account children's views of themselves as well as their own assessments of their talents and capabilities in reading and other academic areas can enhance understandings already established in research and measured by standardized instruments. New avenues of qualitative research can prove amenable to assessing…

If developmental studies programs are to successfully enhance affective and cognitive development in a non-competitive, supportive setting, they must abandon traditional A to F grading in favor of a descriptive, personalized feedback system that helps the student make intelligent decisions concerning his/her academic future. Indeed, research…

Testing materials for high school students whose reading is below grade level might not be age-appropriate or sufficiently motivating. The first step in finding appropriate material would be to talk with the student to learn his or her interests. To find age-appropriate material the author searched Internet resources and then used Microsoft Word…