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Abstract This review provides a synthesis of recent research on the evaluation of students in schools and classrooms. A conceptual framework is developed to highlight key elements of the evaluation process. Within this framework the impact of alterable features of evaluation processes is considered. These features include evaluation purposes, task resolution, clarity of criteria, the demand level and referents of standards, the frequency of sampling performance and outcomes, the soundness of appraisals, and the differentiation and affective value of feedback. A range of effects on students and classrooms is examined. Studies of evaluation processes are found to be limited by a lack of descriptive information on actual evaluation practices in schools and classrooms, a concentration on one or two aspects of a multifaceted evaluation process, and the failure to consider the multiple purposes that evaluation systems must serve in schools and classrooms. Recommendations are made for future studies to overcome these limitations.
Gary Natriello (Sun,) studied this question.