Recent years have produced a surge in interest in improving state assessment programs. Many states are designing new assessments. Much of this innovation is aimed at addressing longstanding areas of unhappiness with typical domain-sampled, end-of-year state assessments: States want to streamline assessment activities, enhance the instructional…

Summative assessments measure students' mastery of grade-level academic standards and skills in specific content areas after learning. State summative assessment systems provide students and families, school and district leaders, and state policymakers with valuable data to help understand student progress and school quality. This Policy Guide…

Public schools have, for generations, played a critical role in the lives of the vast majority of North Carolinians-they are ingrained into the fabric of identity as a state. Many of the issues in the Top Ten highlight where the erosion of the historic commitment to public schools for the public good is seen. The Public School Forum of North…

California has embarked on a major new wave of curriculum reform with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the new English Language Development (ELD) standards, and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The adoption of the CCSS builds a legacy of standards-based education reform in California that began with the…

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…

State testing programs today are more extensive than ever, and their results are required to serve more purposes and high-stakes decisions than one might have imagined. Assessment results are used to hold schools, districts, and states accountable for student performance and to help guide a multitude of important decisions. This report describes…

This report is designed to provide New Jersey Congressional legislators with current information on the effectiveness of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA) Chapter 1 Program in New Jersey. Data on the reading and mathematics performance of ECIA Chapter 1 students in grades 2 through 8 from participating districts were…

The results of an evaluation of Vermont's statewide assessment initiative are presented, with information about the implementation of the program, its effects on educational practice, the analytic challenge presented by the portfolio scoring process, the reliability and validity of portfolio scores, and the tensions between assessment and…

To successfully make the transition from school to adult life and the world of work, adolescents and young adults need guidance and encouragement from caring, supportive adults. The best decisions and choices made by transitioning youth are based on sound information including appropriate assessments that focus on the talents, knowledge, skills,…

A review of procedures used to assess the educational needs of offenders in Florida's correctional institutions is presented in this report, along with recommendations for change. First, the report draws from a 1982 study of the state correctional system, presenting findings regarding the educational needs of youthful offenders, assessment…

Calls for accountability in America's schools have created increased responsibilities for educational leaders. In this article, we describe and discuss a study of elementary, middle, and high school principals' perceptions of the state-wide educational accountability program in North Carolina. The respondents indicated that the state's…

The National Assessment Governing Board has recognized the need to study associated policy and technical issues to ensure that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is ready to do the best job possible if called on to confirm the results of state achievement testing under the No Child Left Behind Act. This report describes the…

This Brief builds on the work of the National Association of State Boards of Education 1997 Study Group on State Assessment Systems by examining one of the state board actions that is most likely to capture the publics attention: setting cut scores on state assessments. This process involves a large measure of human judgment and politics and a…

The 2000-2001 school year brought changes in statewide testing in Montana and in assessment requirements tied to two federal programs, Title I and Special Education. This document provides guidance to districts about their responsibilities relative to the involvement of students served by these programs in statewide assessment, describing the ways…

"Accountability" and "assessment" are terms that are frequently misused and misunderstood. This document is intended to stimulate conversations about assessment of and accountability for student learning, to raise assessment issues that may prevent improved student learning, and raise awareness about the relationship between assessment and…