This easy-to-read book provides complete and detailed practical coverage of (1) teacher constructed classroom assessments (paper and pencil assessments, informal assessments, and performance and product assessments), (2) standardized assessments used in schools, and (3) measurement issues that determine assessment quality. It uses a large number of real-life examples to serve as models for assessment practice, and teaches assessment concepts that are critical for good teaching. Balanced coverage of all assessment topics includes how to integrate lesson and assessment plans, how to craft portfolios and performance assessments, and how to properly grade students. It gives teachers both the strengths and criticisms of all assessment techniques presented, so that they can choose the best methods for their students and explain their choices to parents. Competencies learned in this book are important and valued by professional associations for teachers.
ANTHONY J. NITKO is a adjunct professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Arizona, and professor emeritus and former chairperson of the Department of Psychology in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include curriculum-based criterion-referenced testing, integration of testing and instruction, classroom assessment, and the assessment of knowledge and higher-order thinking skills. His publications include the chapter "Designing Tests That Are Integrated wit Instruction" in the third edition of Educational Measurement. He co-authored (with C. M. Lindvall) Measuring Pupil Achievement and Aptitude, (with T-C Hsu) Pitt Educational Testing Aids (PETA) (a package of computer programs for classroom teachers), and (with R. Glaser) the chapter "Measurement in Learning and Instruction" in the second edition of Educational Measurement.
Dr. Nitko has been the editor of the journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, and was also editor of d'News the AERA Division D newsletter Some of the journals in which his research has appeared include American Educational Research Journal, Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Educational Technology, Journal of Educational Measurement, and Research in Development Disabilities.
Dr. Nitko has been a member of several committees of the American Educational Research Association, was elected secretary of AERA Division D, served on committees of the National Council on Measurement in Education, and was elected to the board of directors and as president of the latter. He received Fulbright awards to Malawi and Barbados and has served as a consultant to various government and private agencies in the United States, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malawi, Namibia, and Singapore.
