State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

A standards-based assessment system provides opportunities to join curriculum intentions to demonstrations of complex learning. In this article we use New Zealand's senior secondary qualifications system--the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA)--to illustrate how adaptations of existing structures might help to better reflect…

Although grades are often portrayed as detrimental to students' motivation and interest in learning, closer analysis of the evidence indicates that when used appropriately, grades can be a meaningful and effective form of feedback. Thomas R. Guskey clarifies how studies on grades are frequently misinterpreted, explains how grades offer important…

This article develops an analytical framework for analysing college (tertiary) statistics textbooks in terms of text accessibility by integrating the text, the reader, and the content into the framework. Five accessibility attributes of science texts were adapted to conceptualize the accessibility of statistics texts. For each accessibility…

Propensity score matching and weighting methods are applied to balance covariates and reduce selection bias in the analysis of observational study data, and ultimately estimate a treatment effect. We wish to evaluate the impact of a Supplemental Instruction (SI) program on student success in an Introductory Statistics course. In such student…

Presented here is a novel engineering degree initiative established at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia. This program embodies emerging trends and prospects in engineering education, aspiring to nurture adept engineers well-prepared for practical application. Furthermore, this paper delves into the application of this program for training…

Robert M. Rowan imagines if writing instructors created a tool or method for the writing classroom that helps focus each student's mind on the experience by inviting students to slow down so they can explain, critique, and analyze their work before it is reviewed by their instructors. When the instructors respond, they can have a more fully…

This article is part of a special LDRP research-to-practice series introducing key concepts to enable special education practitioners and other nonresearchers to be more informed research consumers. In the article, we explore how social validity is assessed in special education research and how to interpret social validity assessments. Rather than…

The purpose of this article is to examine and expand on how assessment is facilitated by providing three sport specific examples embedded within the curriculums of Tactical Games Model, Sport Education and Play Practice, for how assessment can be thought about, structured, and enacted alongside each sport's developmentally appropriate guidelines.

Social return on investment (SROI), an evaluation method that compares monetized social value generated to costs invested, is in ascendance. Conceptually akin to cost-benefit analysis, it shares some of its challenges; however, these are heightened due to the expressed promise of using SROI to compare programs and inform philanthropic and public…

This paper critically explores the notion of academic citizenship, evaluates its importance and argues that faculty have shifted away from engaging in collegial activities to behaviour that is purposefully targeted towards the attainment of academic performance metrics. We highlight the significant implications and challenges for the academy of a…

Formal evaluation of policies, programmes and people has become ubiquitous in contemporary western contexts. This is the case for equity and widening participation (WP) agendas in higher education, for which evaluation is often required to measure 'what works'. Although evaluation has a 'fundamentally social, political, and value-oriented…

Allowing students to make choices (e.g., on the reading materials to read for an assignment) can contribute to creating learning environments that promote critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation among students. Given this potential that choice has to enhance instruction, it is reasonable to examine its potential as a contributor to enhanced…

This article offers a framework for more equitable classroom reading assessment known as a Critical Assessment Practices (CAPS) approach. CAPS includes a set of four principles that teachers can use to partner with, and to empower, students to support more equitable and informative classroom-based reading assessment. Teachers can apply the CAPS…

Background: 'Speech sound disorder' is an umbrella term that encompasses dysarthria, articulation disorders, childhood apraxia of speech and phonological disorders. However, differential diagnosis between these disorders is a persistent challenge in speech pathology, as many diagnostic procedures use symptom clusters instead of identifying an…