Peer evaluators and multiple data sources are effective elements of Tennessee's career ladder system, but the assessment of teaching remains far from simple. (Author/TE)

Experienced teachers in North Carolina benefit from an evaluation system that sets clear expectations and combines traditional evaluation with individual growth opportunities. The model is based on a regional educational laboratory's 10 years of experience in research and development in formative evaluation. Teacher self-assessment is a key…

Assessment for learning involves the frequent, continual use of both formal and informal classroom assessments. It can be as simple as requiring students to respond to a lesson-embedded, one-item quiz as a way of gauging student understanding of what is being taught. Ideally, this innovative approach to classroom assessment is based on a careful…

Traditional assessments--which detect and highlight differences in student learning and rank students according to their achievement--inevitably produce winners and losers. Because today's schools cannot afford to leave any child behind, educators need to embrace a new vision of assessment--one that enables all students to become winners. The…

Many of our greatest joys in life are related to our learning, but, unfortunately, most of that learning takes place outside of school. Educators can put more joy into the experience of going to school and get more joy out of working inside school by focusing on several essentials. Help students find pleasure in learning by giving them the freedom…

Argues the importance of improving teacher evaluation and educational accountability, and outlines a suggested model for effective teacher supervision and evaluation. (JG)

Describes a method of monitoring the district curriculum during an extended maintenance period. The program audit for each subject area addresses the degree of fidelity to curriculum objectives, determines whether teachers are emphasizing the curriculum objectives, and identifies factors constraining curriculum implementation. (MJL)

Elaborates on the article "Synthesis of Research on the Effectiveness of Intellectual Skills Programs: Snake-Oil Remedies or Miracle Cures?" by Sternberg and Bhana. Encourages the development of a theory that could provide a guide to the infusion of thinking instruction into any area of inquiry. (IW)

To gather information on how No Child Left Behind's testing mandates have affected students and schools, Wisconsin ASCD conducted an electronic survey of administrators in every school district in the state. A total of 171 districts responded. Their responses indicated that the very resources that are central to the goals of NCLB--instructional…

Defining "curriculum documents" as all written forms a curriculum might take (such as philosophy statements, scope and sequence displays, curriculum guides, instructional units, resource units, or courses of study), this article provides criteria and an instrument for evaluating such documents. (JM)

Although 360-degree feedback is no panacea for improving schools, it provides educational leaders with data to help them perceive, reflect, articulate, and analyze their own behavior, based on data from a full circle of constituents, including themselves. Face-to-face coaching is a mandatory component. (MLH)

Argues that how curriculum evaluations are conducted is more important than who conducts them, and stresses the need to make evaluations more systematic, more public, and more sensitive to differences in data needs at the various levels of decision making inherent in groups. (Author/JG)

Defines "portfolio" as an intersection of instruction and assessment and presents guidelines for using portfolios in self-directed learning. Portfolio assessment offers students a concrete way to value their own work. A portfolio is separate from a student's cumulative folder, conveys the student's activities, may have multiple purposes, and…

In response to a 1983-84 school board mandate to evaluate its K-12 science program, a Maryland public school system invited local scientists, administrators, science teachers, parents, students, and graduates to serve as evaluators. The same community-based model was subsequently used to evaluate the mathematics program. (MLH)

Because they focus on the quality of instruction, teacher evaluations can be powerful catalysts for teacher and school improvement. But today, the typical teacher evaluation consists of a single, fleeting classroom visit by an administrator untrained in evaluation. Often he or she wields a checklist of classroom conditions and teacher behaviors…