From the 1980s to the present, educational accountability in the United States has grown dramatically. Such accountability in U.S. school districts, although driven primarily by external demands, has internal manifestations as well. The chapter traces the historical development of internal evaluation in American school districts, then highlights…

Draws lessons in contracting for evaluations from the 1995 evaluation of a U.S. Marine Corps personnel evaluation system and a 1991 evaluation of the procedures for setting cutting scores of the National Assessment Governing Board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. These national, politically sensitive evaluations provide lessons…

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

Summarizes the creation and results of the 1997 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Arts Assessment Report Card. Discusses the creation and the many improvements made to the NAEP Assessment, particularly the Arts Assessment. Discusses the impact of the assessment. (SC)

Presents a history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), focusing on procedural changes from 1969 to date and questions whether NAEP results should be used for accountability purposes. It recommends that NAEP should be insulated from reform efforts and that NAEP's monitoring of population levels of educational achievement…

Highlights several articles that raise questions about the role of research in educational reform. These articles argue over the use of National Assessment of Educational Progress results for accountability purposes; and the advisability of using cost-benefit analysis in critiquing educational reform proposals, and particularly, in evaluating the…

Discusses the changes in art education within the last 30 years and considers their effect on assessment. Briefly touches on theorists and their contributions to the field, including Elliot Eisner, Robert Stake, and Leonard Meyer. Includes a summarized list of art education guidelines. (MJP)

The 1994 U.S. History Framework encourages students to learn about ideas and people and to understand how the present world is the result of choices and convictions of people, and the focus of the assessment is to see what diverse U.S. students in grades 4, 8, and 12 understand about U.S. history. The framework proposes that students studying U.S.…

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) was created by Congress to formulate policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Among the Board's responsibilities are developing objectives and test specifications and designing the assessment methodology for NAEP. This document provides the framework to guide the development…