Search results

The School of Education at Utah Valley University has grown relatively quickly from a limited teacher education program to an elementary and secondary education licensure program with over 800 juniors and seniors. Growth on this level is accompanied by significant change, particularly with reference to programmatic requirements, assessment, and accreditation. The School of Education faculty has worked over several years to define its mission and philosophy, determine the program structure and evaluation procedures, and pursue accreditation. Developing a culture that responds to accountability requirements, while staying true to the school's philosophic beliefs and practical restrictions, has been an on-going effort. However, these “tensions of change” have resulted in a faculty who work as a team to act in response to issues revealed by observation and assessment, to continually advance our mission-to prepare excellent teachers for our community's schools.

Michael H. Abel is the manager for Domain Quality and Development at Western Governors University (WGU) in the United States and assists faculty in developing detailed descriptions of the domains of knowledge, skill, and ability that serve as the basis for academic program and assessment development. As a co-developer of the WGU Teachers College assessment programs, Michael designed specialized databases for standards alignment and domain development and created and administered training for test item writers and editors. He also served as senior assessment developer and editor when the WGU Teachers College assessment program went university wide. Michael received an MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California and a BA in German from Brigham Young University. He is co-author of a test item development guide, The Art of Item Development.

Despite widespread interest in the resources and people of Alaska, few libraries outside of the state maintain extensive collections on these subjects. In this article, David A. Hales reviews a multifarious sample of informative materials.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.