Assessment is an integral part of instruction. For the past decade, the focus on assessment--particularly via high-stakes mandated tests--has shifted away from the classroom and left teachers feeling like they are drowning in data. Assessment is, and needs to be again, much more than a number. Assessment in Perspective is about moving beyond the numbers and using assessment to find the stories they tell. This book helps teachers sort through the myriad of available assessments and use each to understand different facets of their readers. It discusses how to use a range of assessment types--from reading conference notes and student work to running records and state tests--together to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of a reader. The authors share a framework for thinking about the purpose, method, and types of different assessments. They also address the questions they ask when choosing or analyzing assessments: - What type of tool do we need: diagnostic, formative, or summative; formal or informal; quantitative or qualitative? - How do we use multiple assessments together to provide an in-depth picture of a reader? - When and how are we giving the assessment? - Do we want to be able to compare our readers to a standard score, or do we need to diagnose a reader's needs? - Which area of reading does this tool assess? - How can we use the information from assessments to inform our instruction? - What information does a particular assessment tell us, and what doesn't it tell us? - What additional information do we need about a reader to understand his or her learning needs? The book emphasizes the importance of triangulating data by using varied sources, both formal and informal, and across multiple intervals. It explains the power of looking at different types of assessments side-by-side with displays to find patterns or inconsistencies. What's more, students are included as valuable sources of data. Letting students in on the process of assessment is key to helping them set goals, monitor their own progress, and celebrate growth. When assessment is viewed in this way, instruction can meet high standards and still be developmentally appropriate.

This text makes an important contribution to our understanding of the socio-cultural issues associated with assessment in PE, in terms of its systemic development as well as at the level of pedagogic relations between PE teachers and their students.

This important book answers the growing call for US institutions to internationalize, create global citizens, and better serve diverse populations. Faculty are increasingly tasked with simultaneously encouraging a more inclusive worldview, facilitating classroom environments that harness the potential of students, and advising students who may need an array of university services or speak English as an additional language. Teaching with a Global Perspective is an accessible, hands-on tool for faculty and instructors seeking to facilitate global classroom environments and to offer diverse students the academic, language, and interpersonal support needed for success. Rich with practical features including Classroom Strategies, Assessments, Case studies, Discussion Questions, and suggestions for further reading in bibliographies, chapters address: developing a working understanding of global learning and inclusivity; identifying opportunities and barriers to helping students grow as global citizens; building confidence in teaching with a global perspective; facilitating courses and in-class participation that promote global and inclusive learning and communication between diverse populations; designing curricula, courses, assignments, and assessments that foster global and inclusive learning and support students with varied needs; and providing facilitative responses to students’ academic work. Teaching with a Global Perspective bridges an important divide in discussions about globalizing curricula by developing readers’ content knowledge while also helping them to develop more effective global communication strategies.

Assessment in counseling is an ongoing and dynamic routine to encourage movement in a productive direction toward what is truly best. In this Christian perspective on assessment, Stephen P. Greggo equips counselors to put assessment techniques into practical use, charting a course for care that brings best practices of the profession together with practices of Christian discipleship.

An important guide to assessing and managing the environment from a landscape perspective Ecological relationships are nested within the landscape. Identifying the relevant spatial and temporal scales is critical for an effective understanding of ecological functions that human societies depend upon. Moreover, human encroachment into natural areas, or changes in climate, can alter spatial relationships, which in turn can negatively affect vital plant and wildlife patterns—and weaken economic structures needed to sustain human societies. This book is the first to combine multiple disciplines into one cohesive strategy to study these crucial connections, and looks toward building a social paradigm that embraces the dynamics of ecological systems. This book: Integrates landscape ecology, environmental risk assessment, valuation of ecological goods and services, and environmental management decision processes into one single source Includes chapters on quantitative measures, Bayesian modeling,¿economic analysis, and sustainable landscapes Covers marine, forest, agricultural, and pharmaceutical risk assessment Has a chapter on predicting climate change risk to ecosystems Has a companion ftp site with color graphics, animations, and risk assessment tools With material that is accessible across all knowledge levels, Environmental Risk Assessment and Management from a Landscape Perspective moves beyond looking solely at chemical contaminants to diagnose environmental threats, and aims to accomplish practical risk assessment in a manner that supports long-term sustainable management.

This volume brings together educational effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments, demonstrating how the two fields can be applied to inspire and improve each other, and providing readers direct links to instruments that cover a broad range of topics and have been shown to work in more than 70 countries. The book’s initial chapters introduce and summarize recent discussions and developments in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of international large-scale context assessments and provide an outlook on possible future developments. Subsequently, three thematic sections – “Student Background”, “Outcomes of Education Beyond Achievement”, and “Learning in Schools” – each present a series of chapters that provide the conceptual background for a wide range of important topics in education research, policy, and practice. Each chapter defines a conceptual framework that relates recent findings in the educational effectiveness research literature to current issues in education policy and practice. These frameworks were used to develop interesting and relevant indicators that may be used for meaningful reporting from international assessments, other cross-cultural research, or national studies. Using the example of one particular survey (the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015)), this volume links all theoretical considerations to fully developed questionnaire material that was field trailed and evaluated in questionnaires for students and their parents as well as teachers and principals in their schools. The primary purposes of this book are to inform readers about how education effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments are already interacting to inform research and policymaking; to identify areas where a closer collaboration of both fields or input from other areas could further improve this work; to provide sound theoretical frameworks for future work in both fields; and finally to relate these theoretical debates to currently available and evaluated material for future context assessments.

The go-to resource for clinical and forensic practice has now been significantly revised with 85% new material, reflecting the tremendous growth of the field. Leading authorities synthesize the state of the science on symptom feigning in cognitive testing and present evidence-based recommendations for distinguishing between credible and noncredible performance. A wide range of performance validity tests (PVTs) and symptom validity tests (SVTs) are critically reviewed and guidelines provided for applying them across differing cognitive domains and medical, neurological, and psychiatric conditions. The book also covers validity testing in forensic settings and with particular populations, such as ethnic and linguistic minority group members. New to This Edition *Numerous new authors, a greatly expanded range of topics, and the latest data throughout. *"Clinical primer" chapter on how to select and interpret appropriate PVTs. *Chapters on methods for validity testing in visual–spatial, processing speed, and language domains and with cognitive screening instruments and personality inventories. *Chapter on methods for interpreting multiple PVTs in combination. *Chapters on additional populations (military personnel, children and adolescents) and clinical problems (dementia, somatoform/conversion disorder). *Chapters on research methods for validating PVTs, base rates of feigned mild traumatic brain injury, and more.

The way in which special education is conceived varies around the world, and pratice varies accordingly. One of the current debates concerns the concepts of mainstreaming, integration and inclusion - and whether these are in fact different concepts, or simply differnt terminology. This book is based on the assumption that inclusive education is a necessary part of providing high quality education for all. Using international examples, it clarifies the rationale for inclusion and demonstrates how it can be put into practice.