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Knowing What Students Know

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 383 pages

File Size : 28,43 MB

Release : 2001-10-27

Category : Education

ISBN : 0309293227

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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.



The Nation's Report Card

Author :

Publisher :

Page : 380 pages

File Size : 28,76 MB

Release : 2001

Category : Academic achievement

ISBN :

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The National Assessment of College Student Learning

Author : Sal Corrallo

Publisher :

Page : 168 pages

File Size : 44,31 MB

Release : 1996

Category : Education

ISBN :

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Book Description

This report summarizes proceedings and conclusions of a two-day national planning workshop to further the assessment of national postsecondary outcomes, as suggested by Goal 6.5 of the National Education Goals, and to determine how the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the states might work more effectively to develop mutually-supportive postsecondary assessment activities and policies. Conclusions of the workshop indicate that there is no immediate possibility of aggregating state-level data on postsecondary outcomes to create a usable national indicator. But they do suggest other ways in which the states and the federal government might work together to improve the quality of the data. Section 1 provides background information and an overview of the workshop. Section 2 presents results of an inventory of state activities. Section 3 describes the workshop's major discussion themes and conclusions concerning: (1) the current political context for postsecondary assessment; (2) the corresponding methodological context; and (3) results of working sessions. Section 4 provides conclusions, policy implications, and possible next steps. Appendices include, in addition to the workshop agenda and participants list, a paper describing current activities of the NCES and individual background papers on each state's activities in postsecondary assessment. Also appended are the texts of the following prepared papers: "What Political Leaders Expect from Postsecondary Assessment" (Charles S. Lenth); "Perspective from the National Education Goals Panel" (Ken Nelson); "The State Perspective" (Mark D. Musick); "The Virginia Experience" (Margaret A. Miller); "Making Assessment Essential without Legislative Mandates: The Missouri Experience" (Ava L. Fajen et al.); and "Methodological Concerns: An ETS Perspective" (John Mazzeo). (MAH)



National Assessment of College Student Learning

Author :

Publisher :

Page : 124 pages

File Size : 41,98 MB

Release : 1992

Category : Education, Higher

ISBN :

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Book Description

This report presents the results of a workshop, held in Arlington, Virginia, on November 17-19, 1991, to discuss with the larger community the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) effort to develop strategies for assessing college student learning in support of National Education Goal Five, Objective Five which supports a substantial increase the proportion of college graduates who demonstrate advanced reasoning and communication skills. It is noted that of particular interest is the identification of the issues and concerns that NCES must consider in developing such an assessment process. The report begins with a brief description of the project goals and activities and is followed by a report of the workshop opening session and small group reports. Listed are the position papers by author and reviewers as well as general statements of the workshop participants. The general statements (individual comments) address what some participants would like to see as a user, what the most important next steps by NCES should be, what the major barriers and/or problems are that the NCES is likely to face, and who else should be consulted. (GLR)



Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education

Author : George D. Kuh

Publisher : John Wiley & Sons

Page : 309 pages

File Size : 42,25 MB

Release : 2015-01-20

Category : Education

ISBN : 1118903390

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Book Description

American higher education needs a major reframing of student learning outcomes assessment Dynamic changes are underway in American higher education. New providers, emerging technologies, cost concerns, student debt, and nagging doubts about quality all call out the need for institutions to show evidence of student learning. From scholars at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education presents a reframed conception and approach to student learning outcomes assessment. The authors explain why it is counterproductive to view collecting and using evidence of student accomplishment as primarily a compliance activity. Today's circumstances demand a fresh and more strategic approach to the processes by which evidence about student learning is obtained and used to inform efforts to improve teaching, learning, and decision-making. Whether you're in the classroom, an administrative office, or on an assessment committee, data about what students know and are able to do are critical for guiding changes that are needed in institutional policies and practices to improve student learning and success. Use this book to: Understand how and why student learning outcomes assessment can enhance student accomplishment and increase institutional effectiveness Shift the view of assessment from being externally driven to internally motivated Learn how assessment results can help inform decision-making Use assessment data to manage change and improve student success Gauging student learning is necessary if institutions are to prepare students to meet the 21st century needs of employers and live an economically independent, civically responsible life. For assessment professionals and educational leaders, Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education offers both a compelling rationale and practical advice for making student learning outcomes assessment more effective and efficient.



Faculty Development and Student Learning

Author : William Condon

Publisher : Indiana University Press

Page : 172 pages

File Size : 29,11 MB

Release : 2016-02-15

Category : Education

ISBN : 0253018862

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Book Description

Colleges and universities across the US have created special initiatives to promote faculty development, but to date there has been little research to determine whether such programs have an impact on students' learning. Faculty Development and Student Learning reports the results of a multi-year study undertaken by faculty at Carleton College and Washington State University to assess how students' learning is affected by faculty members' efforts to become better teachers. Extending recent research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to assessment of faculty development and its effectiveness, the authors show that faculty participation in professional development activities positively affects classroom pedagogy, student learning, and the overall culture of teaching and learning in a college or university.



Assessing Student Learning

Author : Linda Suskie

Publisher : John Wiley & Sons

Page : 344 pages

File Size : 39,24 MB

Release : 2010-07-30

Category : Education

ISBN : 0470936800

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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.



National Assessment of College Student Learning

Author : Addison Greenwood

Publisher :

Page : 196 pages

File Size : 15,99 MB

Release : 1993

Category : Education, Higher

ISBN :

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Book Description

This report explores the issues and concerns related to the development of a process to assess college student learning. Its primary focus is the attainment of National Education Goal 5.5 by the year 2000 which reads, "The proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems will increase substantially." The primary source of information for this report came from a set of 15 papers commissioned as background for a study design workshop held in November 1991, 45 reviews of the papers, and the proceedings of the study design workshop, "National Assessment of College Student Learning: Issues and Concerns." Chapter 1 addresses what it means to undertake a national assessment of college student learning and raises issues inherent in such a national assessment. Chapter 2 considers what specific skills should be assessed (critical thinking skills, assessment in the workplace, assessment in the colleges--basic skills and general intellectual skills, literacy and writing assessments, and necessary research). Chapter 3 raises six standards and other measurement issues: (1) relationship of standards to the task of defining a national assessment of college student learning; (2) historical context for standards; (3) relationship of standards of National Assessment of College Student Learning to the overall charge of Goal 5; (4) the testing of subject-specific content domains; (5) reasonableness of a single set of standards; (6) and the debate over portfolio assessment and its relationship to standards and values issues. (Contains over 450 footnotes.) (GLR)



National Assessment of College Student Learning

Author : Elizabeth A. Jones

Publisher : Department of Education Office of Educational

Page : 196 pages

File Size : 22,24 MB

Release : 1995

Category : Education

ISBN :

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Book Description

This study used an iterative Delphi survey process of about 600 faculty, employers, and policymakers to identify writing, speech and listening, and critical thinking skills that college graduates should achieve to become effective employees and citizens (National Education Goal 6). Participants reached a consensus about the importance in critical thinking of the ability to detect: indirect persuasion including the use of leading questions that are biased towards eliciting a preferred response, use of misleading language, use of slanted definitions or comparisons, and instances where irrelevant topics or considerations are brought into an argument to divert attention from the original issue. With regard to effective writing respondents thought that graduates should be able to use active or passive voice where appropriate, use correct grammar, use specific language conventions of their academic discipline, and use language that their audience understands. With regard to speech communication skills respondents reached agreement about the importance of information exchange, conversation management, group communication, and using and understanding spoken English and non-verbal signs. Extensive tables detail the Delphi survey results. (Contains 168 references.) (JB)



Assessing Student Learning by Design

Author : Jay McTighe

Publisher : Teachers College Press

Page : 113 pages

File Size : 33,84 MB

Release : 2021

Category : Education

ISBN : 0807765406

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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"--