New publications

Drawing on recent sociocultural approaches to research on language learning and an extensive corpus of classroom video recording made over four years, this book documents language learning as an effect of face-to-face peer interaction. The research uses methods from conversation analysis with longitudinal data to document practices for interaction between learners and how those practices change over time. Web links to classroom data are provided. Adapted from publisher's description.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of debate about whether the educational system as currently set up is able to meet the needs of children and young people growing up in the 21st century. The Enquiring Minds project set out to explore this issue. From 2005–08, researchers from Futurelab worked with teachers in two United Kingdom schools to develop approaches to curriculum design and classroom practice that explicitly started from the interests, experiences and concerns of students in schools. Adapted from Futurelab description.

This award-winning text focuses on teaching pre-service teachers how to assess students in classrooms. Topics include assessment design, essay assessment, performance assessment, personal communication as assessment, assessing dispositions, managing and communicating achievement information, report cards, portfolios, and communicating about standardized test scores. See publisher's description.

This text conceives of classroom assessment in a broader way than many others. It focuses not only on the assessment needs of testing, grading and interpreting standardised tests and performance assessments, but also on assessment concerns in organising a classroom at the start of school, planning and implementing instruction, and strategies for teacher self-reflection. Adapted from publisher's description.

This US-based book aims to help classroom teachers to collect formative and summative information about student achievement, interpret standardised tests and use information from multiple sources to help students learn. The chapter titles are Classroom Decision Making; Validity and Reliability; Learning Goals; Higher-Order Thinking; Planning Assessment and Instruction; Formative Assessment; Completion and Selected Response Test Items; Constructed Response Items; Performance Assessment; Scoring: Points, Rubrics and Other Scales; and Grading. See publisher's description.

The second edition of Beyond High School: Preparing adolescents for tomorrow's challenges addresses a range of goals and the complexity of providing secondary education services today. Among these goals are the basic right of all students to be educated in an unrestrictive environment; suitably planned and delivered educational experiences; coordination of a range of agencies to meet individual education and employment needs; and the change in support required as students grow and mature throughout their lives. Adapted from publisher's description.