This sequential mixed methods study addressed the need for research that both described and explained how teachers of varying experience respond to administrative evaluative feedback. Formative evaluation theory of Scriven and professional growth models of Steffy and Fessler served as theoretical models for data analysis. An online survey asking teachers how they changed their practices and what accounted for their response was received from 270 teachers in 1 Midwestern state. Of these, 9 teachers of varying experience were interviewed. The quantitative data showed that most teachers do not change practices on the 8 state teaching standards in response to feedback. An independent sample t test revealed statistically significant differences between teachers of varying experience in 3 standards: support of district goals, classroom management, and instruction. . An ANOVA found no significant effect between teaching experience and the length of time since the feedback was provided to the teacher. Qualitative data found a variety of social, personal, organizational, and student-based needs that accounted for teachers' response to feedback. In teachers that made changes to practices, administrator suggestion was the most important factor, but conversations with colleagues were also important. However, most teachers did not receive formative feedback. Organizational factors such as state initiatives to change instruction influenced teachers of more experience than novice teachers. These findings can help administrators improve the formative effect of their feedback. Understanding how evaluative feedback leads to changes in teaching practices should improve feedback systems in schools across the nation which subsequently should lead to in more effective teaching practices.

Formative assessment is supported by research as a process to enhance student learning. A vital aspect in the process is the role of feedback which, based on its use, can support or hinder student learning. The problem addressed in this study was based on the concern of a high school administrator that teachers in the school were not using formative feedback in a manner that supported student learning. The purpose of this instrumental qualitative case study was to explore and understand the assessment and feedback practices of mathematics teachers in a private high school setting. The conceptual framework for this study was a model influenced by Black and Wiliam's theory of formative assessment and by Hattie and Timperley's model of feedback in which effective feedback is the supporting structure of the formative assessment process for promotion of student learning. The research questions were designed to explore the beliefs and practices of 3 mathematics teachers regarding the purpose of assessment and feedback. Qualitative data were collected from archival documents, observations, and a series of semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed by using multicycle descriptive coding and development of themes. Findings included teachers' beliefs, practices and misconceptions about the assessment and feedback cycle in relation to student learning in their classrooms. A recurring theme was that they lacked training in formative assessment practice. A 3-day professional development workshop that integrated and grounded formative assessment research into the daily practice of teachers was developed as a project. Teachers might bring about positive social change as their students develop self-regulatory learning strategies and transfer them into community life.

This dissertation examines El Marquesillo, a settlement in an archaeologically unexplored region of the Southern Gulf Lowlands of Veracruz, Mexico. Evidence suggests the site has been consistently occupied from the Early Formative period (c. 1500 BC) to the present. Thus, this investigation presents an opportunity to re-examine the sociopolitical continuum encompassing the Olmec cultural phenomenon (c. 1150-300 BC), the emergence of which has been used repeatedly as an example of incipient social complexity. Theorists have portrayed the development of sociopolitical complexity as a mosaic process in which environmental, social, political, economic, ideological, and demographic variables act independently or in combination to bring about change. In order to examine these variables, a suite of traditional and progressive archaeological techniques -- remote sensing, geophysical survey, GIS, mapping, anthropogenic soil survey -- were employed to prospect, document, and analyze the natural and built environments along with the material record documented at El Marquesillo. I argue that the resulting data do not fit many of the traditional models that have been offered to explain the development of Olmec sociopolitical complexity. The term "traditional Olmec paradigm" is used to describe a collective array of conjectural concepts that have been proposed by theorists to explain how Formative people of the Southern Gulf Lowlands constructed and experienced their reality. Findings from El Marquesillo and other recent Heartland investigations suggest that much of this traditional Olmec paradigm may not be accurate. The Gulf Olmec were not a homogeneous and uniform entity across space and time. At El Marquesillo, idiosyncratic behaviors of the ancients relating to ancestor veneration and their connection to the landscape and worldview have been identified. These noted variations in social expression and the lack of adherence to the traditional Olmec paradigm suggest that some hypotheses regarding the Formative people of the Southern Gulf Lowlands be re-visited and possibly revised in the light of new evidence.

Background and objective: Patients’ and parents’ involvement in nursing students’ pediatric clinical practice assessment is informal. This study explored patients’ and parents’ perceptions of their role in students’ formative assessment. Approach: Interviews were conducted with patients and parents admitted at the study setting who received care from a nursing student. They were transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis while Lincoln and Guba’s criteria of rigor and trustworthiness were upheld. Findings: Three categories emerged from the data: 1) Patients’ and parents’ current involvement in the assessment of nursing students’ pediatric clinical practice; 2) How they would like to be involved; and 3) The benefits and challenges of their involvement. Conclusion: This study has provided an understanding of patients’ and parents’ past encounters with nursing students, the elements of care that they would want to assess, and their perceived benefits and challenges of their involvement.

This thesis presents an e-learning solution to facilitate formative assessment of electronically submitted open-ended written assignments.It is widely accepted that formative assessment is highly beneficial to student leaning. A number of researchers are active in developing specialized approaches and software systems for assisting formative assessment of student work. However, no comprehensive e-learning solution exists for facilitating formative assessment of students' open-ended written work. The project presented in this thesis has developed a new approach for using computers to facilitate formative assessment of electronically submitted open-ended written assignments.Based on the literature review of the education theories around formative assessment and current computer software technologies, this project has developed three principles for e-learning support for formative assessment of open-ended written assignments:1. It needs to facilitate all the activities that are potentially required for formative assessment of student assignments (for example, the creation of assessment criteria, the submission of assignments, and the analysis of the assessment results), not only the marking activity to create feedback on assignments.2. It needs to provide an onscreen marking tool which enables human markers to mark open-ended written assignments in an intuitive and efficient way by replicating their paper-based assessment approaches.3. It needs to provide a generic solution for facilitating formative assessment of open-ended written assignments from all disciplines, not a limited solution restricted to some specific domains (for example, computers science or business courses).Based on these principles, a specification of an e-learning system for facilitating formative assessment of open-ended written assignment was developed and a system was implemented accordingly. This system, called the Written Assignment Assessment (WAA) system, has been already used in the assignment marking of several courses at Massey University.

Children in their final years of primary schooling tend to emphasize the use of detail and the production of naturalistic representations, when modelling the human figure with clay. Children of this age rarely construct clay figures which are noted for their dynamic quality in terms of finish, proportion, or pose. This study examined the effect of using a "formative" modelling technique on the clay models made by 11 year old children. Involved in the study were two groups of 11 year old children. Both groups of children undertook a pre-test, a post-test, and a series of clay modelling activities similar to other activities described in most primary school art curricula. The experimental group of children were instructed in the use of a "formative" modelling technique in which children develop their clay figures from a single mass of clay and refrain from constructing the figures by a combination of separate parts. The control group received no instruction. Brown's Modified "Secondary" Characteristics Rating Scale was used to identify differences between pre- and post-test clay figures. Results suggest that the "formative" modelling technique did not induce a different approach to the modelling of finish, proportion, and pose in the clay figures made by boys and girls 11 years of age. However, there was evidence of a gender difference.

<p>I den kvalitativa studien undersöks vad som ligger till grund för bedömning i fyra ämnen inom gymnasieskolan. De ämnen som undersöks är teater, idrott- och hälsa, hotel- och restaurang samt träteknik. Intervjuer med lärare visar att det läggs stor vikt vid bedömning av processen i den dagliga undervisningen, dvs. närvaro, samarbete, ansvar, behov av handledning, självständighet och ambition. Även den produkt eller det slutresultat som undervisningen leder fram till tas med i bedömningen. Lärarna uttrycker även att teoretiska aspekter på undervisningen såsom faktakunskaper, analys, att problematisera och reflektera är underlag för bedömning. Personlig färdighet, talang, förkunskaper samt att kunna göra kopplingar till yrket dvs. elevens förmåga att tillämpa sina kunskaper väger även det in i bedömningen. Observationer vid omdömessamtal samt analys av skriftliga omdömen visar att det är processen som får mest utrymme i bedömningen. För att dokumentera och avgöra om eleven nått målen för undervisningen använder sig lärarna av anteckningar men även den produkt eller det resultat som består. Lärarna beskriver även att de genom kommunikation med eleverna och genom att uppmärksamma hur elever reflekterar kring uppgifterna gör bedömningar. Lärarna uttrycker att de skulle önska att de kunde arbeta mer med bedömning men det som hindrar de är fram för allt tiden, att man upplever att man i så fall skulle behöva strukturera om eller göra avkall på viss undervisning. Andra hinder som lärarna beskriver är att man är fast i vissa traditioner vad gäller undervisning och organisation. Dessutom beskriver lärarna att de saknar tydlighet hur de själva kommunicerar mål och betygskriterier till eleverna.</p>

<p>Under 2008 beslutade regeringen att lärare i grundskolan skall avge skriftliga omdömen i alla ämnen eleven undervisats i, från årskurs ett. Processen med att skriva omdömen skall leda fram till en mer gemensam syn på lärande och bedömning ute på skolorna. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att beskriva relationen mellan bedömning och lärande ur ett lärarperspektiv. Studien genomfördes med en deskriptiv design och fenomenografisk ansats. Data samlades in genom intervju med sex strategiskt valda grundskollärare. Det strategiska urvalet bestod av en spridning avseende kön, ålder, antal år som lärare och utbildning utöver lärarutbildning samt att de arbetade inom geografiskt spridda områden inom Halmstad kommun. I resultatet framkom fyra varierande beskrivningskategorier. <em>Bedömning ledde till medvetenhet om elevers kunskapsnivå</em><em>. </em>Lärarna erfor att målrelaterade bedömningar användes till att göra eleverna medvetna om att det fanns mål att nå och visade på olika sätt och vägar att nå dit. Men det framkom även att<em> den målrelaterade bedömningen styrde undervisningen inne</em><em>håll.</em> Lärarna menade att arbetet med kriterier till bedömningsmatriser, tog mycket tid och var ett arbete som ibland gick ut över lektionsplanering. <em>Elevers delaktighet i bedömning påverkade deras lärande</em>. Lärarna uttryckte att om eleven själv var involverad i sin egen bedömning uppstod en känsla av delaktighet, som ledde till att hon/han tog större ansvar för sin egen utveckling. I resultatet framkom att<em> bedömning skapade motivation som främjade elevers lärandeprocess</em><strong>.</strong> Lärarna blev motiverade av att bedömningarna gjordes mer formativa och framåtsyftande.</p><p>Studiens resultat visar betydelsen av att variera såväl undervisning och bedömningsform för att höja kvaliteten på lärandet och att lärarna är insatta i möjligheter och svårigheter som hänger ihop med respektive bedömningsform.</p> / <p>In 2008 the government decided that teachers in primary schools must submit written opinions on all subjects taught to the student from grade one. The process of writing reviews should lead to a more common approach to learning and assessment at schools. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between assessment and learning, from a teacher's perspective. The study was conducted with a descriptive design and phenomenographical approach. Data was collected through interviews with six strategically selected primary school teachers. The strategic sample consisted of a spread regarding sex, age, number of years as a teacher, education beyond teacher training and that they were operating in geographically dispersed areas in the Halmstad Municipality. The results revealed four different categories of description. <em>Assessment led to the awareness of students  knowledge. </em>The teachers’ experience was that target-based assessments made students aware that there were goals to achieve and showed various ways to get there. But it was also found that <em>the target-based assessments ruled the teaching content.</em> Teachers felt that the work taken in determining the criteria for the assessment matrices took a large amount of time and was a job that sometimes took place instead of lesson planning. <em>Students  participation in the assessment affected their learning. </em>Teachers expressed the opinion that if the pupil was involved in their own assessment there was a sense of ownership, which led to them taking more responsibility for their own development. The results showed that <em>the assessments created motivation that promoted a student’s learning process.</em> The teachers were motivated by the fact that assessments were more formative and proactive. Study findings show the importance of varying both the teaching and assessment form to improve the quality of learning and that teachers must be familiar with the opportunities and difficulties associated with each assessment form.</p>

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mso-ansi-language:SV;} span.BallongtextChar {mso-style-name:"Ballongtext Char"; mso-ansi-font-size:8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:8.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:Tahoma; mso-hansi-font-family:Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1492866463; mso-list-type:simple; mso-list-template-ids:517357830;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-start-at:0; mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:-; mso-level-tab-stop:18.0pt; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:18.0pt; text-indent:-18.0pt;} ol {margin-bottom:0cm;} ul {margin-bottom:0cm;} --><p>This paper will discuss the proposed reintroducing of a final degree in upper secondary school. In a public government inquiry that was released in March 2008 a proposal about reintroducing a final degree in upper secondary school was presented. A final degree has not been a part of the upper secondary school science 1968. Why was the system with a final degree abounded and why do the government want to reintroduce it?</p><p>Research in pedagogy has through the years presented numbers of theories about assessment. In last decades a great part of the discussion has been focused on formative assessment. In formative assessment the assessment is used as a pedagogy tool. The purpose is to help the student develop their learning process and to learn to work independently. The contrary to formative assessment is assessment which only purpose is to summarise and control the level of knowledge a student possesses.</p><p>The public government inquiry that led to abolish of a final degree in upper secondary school in 1968 shared many thoughts with theories about formative assessment. Forty years later the government has grown sick of all the formative assessment, which they think has led to a “muddled” school. The public government inquiry presented in 2008 wants to reintroduce a final degree and create a school where the student’s knowledge is orderly controlled and summarised.</p></p>

<p>The evaluation and assessment of a pupil’s knowledge is today an important part of a teachers work. The function of the evaluations for younger pupils (grades 1-3) has assumed a more prominent role in the school system due to the introduction of written assessments as well as national testing in grade 3. One of the purposes of this research has been to find out the teacher’s opinions of the written assessment in grade 3. My intention has been to study how teachers feel about assessment in general, what they assess as well as when and how they do it. I also wanted to find out when and how they used “formative” or “summative”assessments, respectively.</p><p>In the empiric research I have used qualitative, unstructured interviews with five professional teachers. All teachers interviewed work in the elementary school system (1-3) and have worked within this school system between 10-30 years. The material gathered from the interviews have been analyzed and categorized thoroughly in order to find various patterns.</p><p>The result of the research showed that the evaluations and assessments are used mainly to indicate each pupil’s individual scholastic development.  Some evaluations are, according to the teachers, included in the daily work with the pupils (and are formative), while other evaluations occur at special, less random occasions (and are summative). It was clear to me that the teachers don’t base their opinions of, and methods in assessment on research but on their long experiences as teachers. One major result from my study is that the teachers don’t look on assessment as being of any greater importance in the elementary school (grade 1-3).</p>