As the commitment to performance assessments as a strategy of reform has increased across the nation, so has the controversy surrounding the purposes, development, implementation, and effects of alternative forms of assessment. One of the first of its kind, this edited volume provides an incisive and comprehensive account of the issues pertaining to performance assessments. The 10 papers comprising the volume were originally written to establish a conceptual framework for a three-year U.S....

Juniper Bean has big plans for her writing career. Swoony kisses, sigh-inducing happily ever afters—she’s going to write them all. There’s just one problem: she can’t seem to stop killing off her main characters. After accepting that a genre change is in order, Juniper sets out to do some research. What’s the best way to carry a dead body? How exactly does one pick a lock? Juniper is going to find out—with the unwilling help of her new roommate, Aiden. But Juniper’s plans go haywire when s...

Samantha Quinn: Baseball lover. Plant mama. Eternal friend zone dweller. I know exactly three things: 1) My heart will forever belong to my best friend, Carter. 2) Carter's heart will never belong to me. 3) I will therefore die alone, surrounded by my houseplants, probably old and grouchy like my eighty-two-year-old landlady, Winifred. But now Carter's cousin wants my help planning her wedding, while Carter wants my help stopping it. How am I supposed to both plan and sabotage a wedding at...

My love for Luca Slater is not unrequited. It's just…not requited yet.Did I break into his house? Technically yes. And did I eavesdrop on that one tiny little conversation? Also yes. But I had good reasons!Unfortunately, Luca does not agree. So while I fell for him at first sight, his opinion of me is dismally low, and it’s about to get lower. Because as of today, I am officially working at his office…as the new janitor.

In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed?Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and women in this exuberant production of one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies.Gerard McSorley stars as Petruchio and Ruth Mitchell as Katherina ...

Heidi Lucy has a secreta big one. A scary, dangerous, ugly one. Theres just one problem: thanks to a mysterious head wound, she cant seem to remember what that secret is. In order to regain her lost memories, Heidi sets out to retrace her stepsfollowed grudgingly by Soren, a faithful patron of her little bookshop and the less-than-thrilled recipient of the cryptic voicemail she cant remember leaving. But her journey gets derailed when one of Heidis customers drops dead in the middle of her...

One girl. One boy. One bargain…MinaLook, I’m no social butterfly. I don’t care what the extroverts say—talking to people is scary. I’d rather hang out with my books than actual human beings. Books don’t call you names or dump water over your head in the cafeteria.But high school is almost over, and I’m realizing I have nothing to show for it but good grades. I need to come out of my shell if I want to get the attention of a certain football ...

Things you bring on a desert island...Sunscreen, obviously. Because these Irish freckles of mine will burn, baby, burn, and lobster red is not a great color on me.An extra dose of my seizure meds, just in case.A backpack full of snacks, including but not limited to a canteen of Dr. Pepper, a box of mini Christmas cookies, and granola bars—the gross crumbly kind, not the chocolate chip kind, because I'm trying to be healthy.Sungla...

Phoenix Park is the man I fantasize about...hitting with my car, that is.He's rich. He's sexy. He's the absolute worst. But after I fall prey to an internet scam and lose every last penny in my account (please don’t ask), it’s Phoenix who swoops in with an offer I can’t refuse. I’ll marry him for the summer so he can inherit the family company from his dying grandmother, and in return, he’ll drop a hefty sum of money into my bank account.Buy me a p...

My love for Luca Slater is not unrequited. It's just…not requited yet.Did I break into his house? Technically yes. And did I eavesdrop on that one tiny little conversation? Also yes. But I had good reasons!Unfortunately, Luca does not agree. So while I fell for him at first sight, his opinion of me is dismally low, and it’s about to get lower. Because as of today, I am officially working at his office…as the new janitor.

FIVE stolen rings, FOUR calling birds, THREE French kisses, TWO falling in love, and a Partridge in a pear tree…Stella Partridge never expected to move back to her hometown. She never expected to be a house-sitter for the twelve days leading up to Christmas as a desperate bid to earn some extra money. And she definitely never expected to recognize the thief that breaks into the house she's watching: Jack Piorra, her childhood best friend, the one who turned cold an...

Once upon a time…I fell for my brother's best friend.I'm not proud of myself, okay? But these things happen when you're young and impressionable. The point is, I got over it. I moved on.Except now Felix Caine is back—back with his easy smile and sparkling eyes, and he’s making me an offer I (literally) can’t refuse. He needs help with a romantic article he’s writing, and he won’t take no for an answer.The more time I spend with him, the more I remem...