How and how much should students be tested? What information should schools and districts be required to collect and monitor? And what should be done when that information suggests a school is not meeting the expectations? Those questions are at the heart of Congressional discussions regarding the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary…

As the number of end of course (EOC) tests has increased along with an expansion of their role in accountability, development and implementation decisions are more important than ever. This process starts with articulating how the assessment fits into a credible theory of action that describes how all elements of the system will work together to…

This report shares with educators and the public all of the test items on which spring 2002 student results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are based. The release of these items provides information on the kinds of knowledge and skills students are expected to demonstrate on the MCAS tests. Local educators are…

This overview of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests is designed to help schools implement the Massachusetts"Curriculum Frameworks." For this fourth administration of the MCAS tests in 2001, the design of the tests remains essentially the same, but there are some changes highlighted in this overview. The first…

Describes how the Allentown, Pennsylvania, public school district uses district-wide final examinations (along with some class-specific test items designed by teachers) to assess secondary school programs, provide "feedback" to teachers, and evaluate student mastery of learning objectives. (MCG)

This primer is designed to help charter school leaders in Ohio in coordinating testing and test data reporting procedures as required by state and federal guidelines. The report discusses the roles and responsibilities of charter schools under Ohio's new accountability system and what charter schools need to know to administer the tests of the…

Eight placement systems currently used in selected California community colleges are described in this paper. Following introductory comments on the variety and complexity of placement systems used in community colleges, issues related to English placement examinations are highlighted. Next, the eight placement models are described, focusing, with…

Careful management of a testing program can greatly limit a teacher's opportunity to cheat while administering standardized tests to students and can increase the likelihood that such cheating will be detected. The Austin Independent School District's systemwide testing staff's plan for controlling cheating has three basic premises: (1) plan and…

The Education Policy Committee's actions and recommendations are presented regarding resolutions passed at the fall 1981 conference of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC). First, a resolution recommending the pursuit of departmental articulation agreements with state colleges and universities is addressed. Statewide…

This test administration plan sets forth the terms and conditions which govern the administration of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), an instrument designed to measure the achievement of the communication and computation skills expected of all students by the time they complete their sophomore year. CLAST scores are required of all…

Explains the differences between licensing and certification; trends in relicensure and recertification; types of occupational tests; and methods of preparing for occupational tests. Considers implications of testing for occupational education. (DMM)

Divided into two sections, this report describes research on the range and degree of assessment of students' communication skills in colleges and universities and includes the following findings: (1) of the 384 respondents from college speech communication departments, 45 reported using large-scale, uniform testing of students; (2) these…

Several forces are driving Alaska's school accountability initiatives. These include: (1) the Legislature's passage in 1997 and 1998 of the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination (HSGQE) and other accountability measures; and (2) the passage by the U.S. Congress of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In the past, schools excluded some…

The North Carolina End-of-Course Testing Program was established to provide student, school, and school system information about achievement in high school courses. Approximately 83.4 percent of the 77,154 students who took the biology test were in the tenth grade. Students taking biology in the ninth grade (8.3 percent) were on an accelerated…

This publication provides a general description, in question-and-answer format, of the 1999 Utah Statewide Testing Program. Under this program, norm-referenced achievement tests are administered to Utah students in grades 5, 8, and 11 under a legislative mandate. The newest edition of the Stanford Achievement Tests, the Stanford 9, was chosen as…