To meet the high-stakes requirements of IDEA's Indicator 13, professionals need proven and practical ways to support successful transitions for young adults with significant disabilities. Now there's a single guidebook to help them meet that critical goal--straight from David Test, one of today's most highly respected authorities on transitions to…

This study aimed to investigate how students' conceptions of assessment relate to one another, how students define assessment, and how student conceptions of assessment relate to their definitions of assessment. A nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary students (N = 705) responded to a 45-item Conceptions of Assessment inventory…

The formal assessment of student engagement, as it has developed in recent years, is not necessarily a faculty-driven activity. Most faculty members who teach undergraduates are involved in the informal assessment of student engagement by taking attendance, observing student behaviors or expressions in class, providing feedback on assignments, and…

This study was designed to investigate how college and university teacher educators identified and assessed the strategies used to enhance the dispositions of teacher candidates. In addition the study examined differences between NCATE accredited and non-NCATE accredited colleges and universities as well as differences between public and private…

Accurate spelling is a complex act that requires cognitive and linguistic knowledge of the phonological, morphological, syntactical, and semantic principles of our language. Students with disabilities frequently exhibit spelling difficulties related to language learning disorders and inefficient cognitive processing. These difficulties often are…

Traditional teacher documentation procedures pit the administrator against the teacher. The process is adversarial and erodes the quality of the intervention. Teachers who are unsuccessful in meeting campus/school district expectations can be successfully acclimatized to the campus culture through a documentation process that combines affective…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the variability of principals' classroom observations across schools and to relate classroom observations to the schools' instructional climate. This helps identify the conditions under which classroom observations effectively improve instruction in some schools and not in other schools.…

Semester assessment of college wind band members is an issue that conductors would probably agree falls within their academic freedom. Institutions may award as little as no credit or even a percentage of a credit for ensemble participation, although the time and effort required of the students and their conductor is undoubtedly equivalent to, or…

This study examined graduates' and completers' perceptions of the effectiveness of Marshall University's alternative certification programs, the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certificate (PBTC), from 1999-2010. This non-experimental descriptive cross-sectional study used the "Spivy Survey of MAT and PBTC Program…

Three main purposes provided the foundation for this study. The first purpose was to investigate academic achievement through analyses of data obtained through formal and informal assessments among kindergarten through eighth grade students who participated in a Head Start program, center-based care program, or home-based care prior to school…

Many strategies contribute to forming co-constructed relationships. However, one of the most effective tools that supports co-construction is ongoing assessment, which provides a common base (knowledge of the child) on which families and professionals can build relationships. As a part of this ongoing assessment, informal strategies--including…

In the past twelve years (1997-2009), Brunei Darussalam has implemented three major educational policies: (1) inclusive education, in 1998; (2) the National Education System for the 21st Century known in Malay as Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad 21 or SPN21, 2008; and (3) education for the gifted / talented students, 2009. These changes are partly…

This paper will compare the uses of selected formal and informal assessments of English language learners (ELLs) in the Language Experience class [TRANSLANGEXP7(&8)-008] at Kimball Middle School, Illinois School District U-46, Elgin, Illinois, during school year 2007- 2008. See figure 1 (page 14) for a graphic display of these assessments…

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the frequency with which school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) used recommended practices when assessing the language skills of bilingual students. The study also investigated the frequency with which SLPs used formal, standardized tests versus informal, alternative procedures with this…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates that students with disabilities graduating or aging out of the P-12 school system be provided with a summary of academic achievement and functional performance (SOP). The SOP should provide the student with one document that summarizes available formal and informal…