Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309289548 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops an approach to science assessment to meet the vision of science education for the future as it has been elaborated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These documents are brand new and the changes they call for are barely under way, but the new assessments will be needed as soon as states and districts begin the process of implementing the NGSS and changing their approach to science education. The new Framework and the NGSS are designed to guide educators in significantly altering the way K-12 science is taught. The Framework is aimed at making science education more closely resemble the way scientists actually work and think, and making instruction reflect research on learning that demonstrates the importance of building coherent understandings over time. It structures science education around three dimensions - the practices through which scientists and engineers do their work, the key crosscutting concepts that cut across disciplines, and the core ideas of the disciplines - and argues that they should be interwoven in every aspect of science education, building in sophistication as students progress through grades K-12. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards recommends strategies for developing assessments that yield valid measures of student proficiency in science as described in the new Framework. This report reviews recent and current work in science assessment to determine which aspects of the Framework's vision can be assessed with available techniques and what additional research and development will be needed to support an assessment system that fully meets that vision. The report offers a systems approach to science assessment, in which a range of assessment strategies are designed to answer different kinds of questions with appropriate degrees of specificity and provide results that complement one another. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards makes the case that a science assessment system that meets the Framework's vision should consist of assessments designed to support classroom instruction, assessments designed to monitor science learning on a broader scale, and indicators designed to track opportunity to learn. New standards for science education make clear that new modes of assessment designed to measure the integrated learning they promote are essential. The recommendations of this report will be key to making sure that the dramatic changes in curriculum and instruction signaled by Framework and the NGSS reduce inequities in science education and raise the level of science education for all students.
Author: Margaret Heritage Publisher: Corwin ISBN: 1544394217 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 145
Book Description
Enrich, grow, and sustain AfL in your classroom. Twenty years after the publication of Inside the Black Box, the landmark review of formative classroom assessment, international education experts Christine Harrison and Margaret Heritage tackle assessment for learning (AfL) anew, with fresh insights gained from two decades of research, theory, and classroom practice. Packed with key AfL ideas and supports, vignettes that illustrate AfL in action, and practice-based evidence to enrich understanding of AfL from both the teacher’s and the student’s perspectives, this book is a ‘sounding board’ for educators to explore and reflect on their own AfL practices and beliefs.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309165091 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
In response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), Systems for State Science Assessment explores the ideas and tools that are needed to assess science learning at the state level. This book provides a detailed examination of K-12 science assessment: looking specifically at what should be measured and how to measure it. Along with reading and mathematics, the testing of science is a key component of NCLBâ€"it is part of the national effort to establish challenging academic content standards and develop the tools to measure student progress toward higher achievement. The book will be a critical resource for states that are designing and implementing science assessments to meet the 2007-2008 requirements of NCLB. In addition to offering important information for states, Systems for State Science Assessment provides policy makers, local schools, teachers, scientists, and parents with a broad view of the role of testing and assessment in science education.
Author: Jay McTighe Publisher: Teachers College Press ISBN: 0807765406 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 113
Book Description
"How might we might help teachers use classroom assessments to gather appropriate evidence for all valued learning goals? How might our classroom assessments serve to promote learning, not just measure it? This book addresses these questions by offering a practical and proven Assessment Planning Framework. The Framework examines four different types of learning goals, considers various purposes and audiences for assessment, reviews five categories of assessment methods, and presents options for communicating results. This updated edition addresses the assessment of academic standards as well as transdisciplinary outcomes (e.g., 21st century skills), and describes the principles and practices underlying standards-based grading"--
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309293227 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 383
Book Description
Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.
Author: Dianne Conrad Publisher: Athabasca University Press ISBN: 1771992328 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Assessment has provided educational institutions with information about student learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But has it informed practice and been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Openo argue that the potential inherent in many of the new learning environments being explored by educators and students has not been fully realized. In this investigation of a variety of assessment methods and learning approaches, the authors aim to discover the tools that engage learners and authentically evaluate education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford opportunities for educators to adopt only the best practices of traditional face-to-face assessment while exploring evaluation tools made available by a digital learning environment in the hopes of arriving at methods that capture the widest set of learner skills and attributes.
Author: Linda Suskie Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0470936800 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 344
Book Description
The first edition of Assessing Student Learning has become the standard reference for college faculty and administrators who are charged with the task of assessing student learning within their institutions. The second edition of this landmark book offers the same practical guidance and is designed to meet ever-increasing demands for improvement and accountability. This edition includes expanded coverage of vital assessment topics such as promoting an assessment culture, characteristics of good assessment, audiences for assessment, organizing and coordinating assessment, assessing attitudes and values, setting benchmarks and standards, and using results to inform and improve teaching, learning, planning, and decision making.
Author: Roger A. Kaufman Publisher: Human Resource Development ISBN: 1599961288 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 131
Book Description
Individuals, teams and organizations make decisions everyday intended to improve performance. But, too often, they rush into finding the solution before defining the problem. This book contains seven self-assessments designed to help you define the issue of "what to accomplish" before deciding "how to accomplish it." With these seven assessments, you can collect, analyze and interpret the data necessary to confirm your suspicions before making recommendations. Do you feel there is neglect of the strategic planning process in your organization? Is it time to move into E-learning? Does your corporate culture require change? Avoid jumping to conclusions - gather the facts first and be sure you are headed where you want to end up before selecting how to get there. In nine chapters, the authors present seven self-assessments: Strategic Thinking and Planning; Needs Assessment and Your Organization; Corporate Culture and Your Organization; Evaluation and Your Organization; Performance Improvement Competencies; Performance Motivation to Change; Organizational Readiness for E-learning. Each instrument uses a unique dual response - "what is" and "what should be" - format with performance-related questions. The book includes instructions on how to complete the surveys, decide what the results mean and use the results. Also included is a glossary of terms used that focuses on results and payoffs instead of the process, activities and interventions applied.
Author: Publisher: UNEP/Earthprint ISBN: 9789280729764 Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 436
Book Description
Despite the central role oceans play in the economic, environmental and social affairs of the planet's 6.7 billion inhabitants, significant gaps exist in our understanding and management of the complex processes at work from the global climate system, to the water cycle and circulation of nutrients, to changes affecting marine habitats. In addition, the vastness of the world's oceans have for far too long been perceived as impervious and indestructible to human impact. To deal with this situation, improved monitoring and observation practices, regular assessments to provide a deeper understanding of the status and trends of environmental changes, and the know-how and ability to prevent, mitigate and adapt to these changes are urgently required. The UN General Assembly in 2005 -- recommended that a regular process for the global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including its socio-economic aspects (Regular Process), be initiated. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) were asked to serve as the lead agencies in the start-up phase that came to be known as the "Assessment of Assessments" (AoA). Under the AoA, an Expert Group have developed options and a framework for such a Regular Process, which can serve as the mechanism to keep the world's oceans and seas under continuing review.
Author: Robert J. Wright Publisher: SAGE ISBN: 1412949173 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 665
Book Description
Educational Tests and Measurements in the Age of Accountability is a core text for use in a first level graduate course in educational measurement and testing. In addition to covering the topics traditionally found in core textbooks for this course, this text also provides coverage of contemporary topics (including national testing programs, international achievement comparisons, the value added assessment of schools and teachers, and the public policy debate on selective admissions vs. affirmative minority enrollment).