This study sought to determine if the implementation of standards-based learning in high schools affects students' transition to learning in university courses. Surveys and interviews with 13 students who had graduated from high schools implementing standards-based learning and who had completed their first academic semester at a midsize, private,…

This article describes accounts of grading reform initiatives that while well-intentioned, met with staunch opposition and eventually were abandoned. The implementation strategies employed by the leaders of these reform initiative are explored, along with reasons these strategies failed to result in meaningful and enduring change. Alternative…

Standardized testing is an external control mechanism for K-12 public schools. Principals, nested between internal and external influences, must manage the tension created by testing's roles as both an internal improvement tool and as an external control mechanism. Five competing narratives, each shaped by author academic background, significantly…

As secondary school leaders consider a shift toward standards-based grading (SBG) practices, they are no doubt weighing the odds of a successful implementation process. This research followed up on a study from 2014 to identify the challenges secondary school leaders experience when changing the currency of the classroom from points to learning.…

This study explored high school teachers' perceptions of the effects of standards-based grading (SBG) on planning, instruction, assessment, classroom management, and student behaviors. Findings indicated that despite some infidelity and an initial implementation dip, systemic (SBG) changes made teaching clearer, more purposeful, and more conducive…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to discover the influence of a student achievement program implemented at one large urban high school that employed extrinsic motivation to promote student achievement on state assessments. Using organismic integration theory as the theoretical framework, 19 randomly selected students participated…

Special education litigation remains a volatile area with significant practice implications. A review of the 2010 case law in the "Special Educator" identified discipline (manifestation determination, seclusion and restraints, harassment), evaluation/RTI, and postsecondary transition as specific areas of concern. School administrators should keep…

If evaluation is to communicate and promote student learning, it must be separated into formative and summative components. A grading policy that provides nonthreatening feedback (via observation of student work, group evaluation activities, classroom participation, homework, reports, discussions, and portfolios) can help students concentrate on…

Art programs suffer from public misunderstanding and a general undervaluing of their content. This article presents new approaches to evaluating student art, particularly that afforded by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program in Studio Art, the Presidential Scholars in the Arts Program, and the National Arts Awards Program. (WD)

Can evaluation of teachers by students be effective? The author, who reviewed much of the research on the subject, describes the findings, points out similarities and differences, and concludes that student evaluations may serve as a valuable adjunct to improving instruction. (Editor)

Achievement testing in nontraditional curriculum areas (such as industrial arts, physical education, or music) provides an ideal opportunity for developing students' self-evaluation skills. While applying testing procedures, teachers demonstrate what skills deserve evaluation and how to evaluate them. This article describes objective approaches to…

Grading should be used to support learning and encourage student success. Under proposed guidelines, teachers should limit the valued attributes to achievement, sample student performance, grade in pencil, relate grading procedures to intended outcomes, crunch numbers carefully, use absolute grading distribution standards, use quality assessment…

The value of assessment activities should be judged by their contribution to what happens, directly or indirectly, between teachers and students. No one assessment can serve all ends. Alternative forms of assessment measure outcomes beyond the purview of traditional measures and are more authentic efforts to represent behavior or accomplishments…

Article investigated the dominant, driving, overall purposes of a school's action-learning curriculum. (Author/RK)

Experienced in the process of student evaluation of teachers, this author suggests ways of using student assessment to best advantage. (Editor)