Nationally, students fail anatomy and physiology courses at some of the highest rates compared with other undergraduate-level courses. Formative evaluation guides future learning by assessing the quality of student achievement while the student is still learning. Formative assessments were introduced in an undergraduate human anatomy course…

A significant movement is underway across the nation to design K-12 assessment systems that better equip stakeholders to provide an equitable and excellent education to each child. While some of these innovations emerged before the pandemic, the massive disruption to instruction fueled a new urgency to rethink the potential of assessments to drive…

Purpose: Framed by occupational socialization theory, this study examined relationships among teachers' perceived quality of assessment practices, workplace factors, and their conceptions of assessment. Methods: Ninety in-service physical education teachers from Alabama completed an online survey that attended to perceptions of organizational…

Without question, faculty (regardless of discipline) should be equipped with the necessary skills to assess students fairly and ethically. This study focuses on the central and prevailing importance of faculty judgment and how that judgment (or lack thereof) influences perceptions related to ethics and assessment of students. The study outlines…

A simple act of motivation priming can significantly impact the validity of test results, which is crucial for institutional accountability. The progression of the studies discussed in this article illustrates a clear trajectory of building upon previous findings to refine and expand the understanding of motivation priming when gathering…

Preparing to become a music teacher educator is a complex process and one component of this process should be learning to model, demonstrate, and teach assessment practices to preservice music educators. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to discover how, and to what extent, music teacher educators (MTEs) are educated about…

Integrating learning analytics in digital game-based learning has gained popularity in recent decades. The interactive nature of educational games creates an ideal environment for learning analytics data collection. However, past research has limited success in producing accessible and effective assessments using game learning analytics. In this…

This study was guided by two key questions: First, what dimensions of continuous improvement do school leaders believe are most important to foster student performance in urban K-12 schools? Second, how does Alabama compare to national leaders regarding their approach to continuous improvement? Initially developed by Meehan et al. (2002), the…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method that has grown in popularity across all grade levels and subject areas, in both K-12 schools and higher education institutions. PBL embraces the integration of curriculum across subjects, the engagement of home and community in school learning, and the involvement of students in cooperative…

The article discusses an instructor's critical pedagogies and reflective practices in three graduate library and information science (LIS)-related courses on topics of social justice and inclusion advocacy, diversity leadership in information organizations, and community-engaged scholarship that were taught at the University of Alabama since…

Teacher candidates bring many beliefs and interpretations of mathematics teaching and learning at the start of their teacher preparation coursework (e.g. methods courses, field experiences, assessment). Well-prepared beginning teachers in many instances requires programs and designed experience to breakdown unproductive beliefs and/or improve…

Two consequentially related education policy topics in the United States are kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) and the growing number of students who are "English learners" (ELs). In this study, I compared the content of, and home language use policies for six state KEAs, all of which were comprised of items from the GOLD®…

By 2013, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had adopted college- and career-ready standards in English language arts and mathematics, placing a greater emphasis on argument writing to prepare students for life after high school. Solving the specific problem of how to help teachers teach to new standards for argument writing as well as the…

Third grade is a critical checkpoint in a child's educational journey. By the end of third grade, children need literacy skills that prepare them for increasing curriculum demands in fourth grade and beyond. Students who are not reading on grade level by this point are significantly more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate on…