Argues that, if teachers do not ask students to assess their own work, they are likely to turn out not knowing how to consider and evaluate their own performances in school and in life. Discusses requesting self-assessment from students; framing and understanding self-assessment; how to ask for, and respond to, student self-assessment; and…

Reports on the development of a form for evaluating student teachers that is designed to encourage them to develop their own teaching styles. Contains a copy of the form. (FL)

Argues that assessment, evaluation, and reporting are intrinsically linked, and together form a cycle that provides information about individual students, the instructor, the course of study, and the educational environment. Offers educators a list of principles concerning assessment, evaluation, and reporting that challenges many current…

Provides a conceptual framework for introducing active learning into the classroom as a tool for assessment. Notes that formative assessment can be a powerful tool for transforming a passive classroom into one filled with active participants. Discusses what is assessed, what are the criteria, who will assess, and how the object of assessment will…

Concludes that a high correlation exists between how well college students meet certain stated responsibilities and how well they achieve in a particular class. Includes a student self-evaluation form. (FL)

Describes specific formative assessment activities suitable for the mentor-preservice teacher relationship. Discusses informal and formal formative assessment, assessment sources, and vehicles for formative assessment. Argues that formative assessment is foundational throughout the teacher education process. (SR)

Discusses how teachers may videotape their own teaching as a method of self-evaluation. Offers ideas on questions to ask while viewing the tape. (SR)

Given the problems of evaluating student teachers objectively, consistently, and with regard for acquired skills, knowledge, and attitudes, Whitman College education faculty sought to design a student teacher evaluation form using detailed descriptions of nine areas of teacher behavior. This article describes the instrument's construction and…

Argues that, if portfolios are to be used effectively for formative purposes, they must be more than receptacles of work: they must invite students to be centrally involved in their own learning. Discusses what should be assessed, when it should be assessed, what kinds of information formative portfolios should provide, and who should be "doing"…

Discusses the paucity of useful evaluation measures that administrators making decisions about selective college admissions have to work with. Argues that the implementation of national testing would allow for more formative assessment of college applicants and would encourage increased classroom instruction with a formative focus at the secondary…

Presents brief annotations of 20 books and journal articles (published between 1967 and 1997) identified by the contributors to this themed issue as useful for the work they present in this issue. (SR)

Offers a brief overview of the evolution of writing center theory and practice (discussing process-oriented pedagogy as well as the shift to social constructionism) over three decades. Stresses the continuing presence of the principles of formative assessment. (SR)

Presented are several successful techniques used by practicing teachers of English composition to minimize the pain of paper grading, composition evaluation, and revision, for both students and teachers. (KC)

Proposes a hybrid grading system for composition papers which combines numbers and letters (thus providing some objectivity while preserving flexibility) that awards points on a sliding scale (with substantial rewards for content and readability and more limited rewards for mechanics and format) and that helps students see how their papers were…

Describes how students learn and how they are evaluated at the secondary level in the Hungarian school system. Notes also the process and standards for university admission. (SR)