This study examines measures of formative assessment practice using data from a study of the implementation and effects of adding curriculum embedded measures to a hands-on science program for upper elementary school students. The authors present a unifying conception for measuring critical elements of formative assessment practice, illustrate…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) has produced an explosion of interest in the use of assessment to measure and improve student learning. Initially focused on annual state tests, educators quickly learned that results came too little and too late to identify students who were falling behind. At the same time, evidence from the…

This report describes the purposes of benchmark assessments and provides recommendations for selecting and using benchmark assessments--addressing validity, alignment, reliability, fairness and bias and accessibility, instructional sensitivity, utility, and reporting issues. We also present recommendations on building capacity to support schools'…

Based on the results of a generalizability study (G study) of measures of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics developed at The National Center for Research, on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California, Los Angeles, this report provides evidence that teachers are better at drawing reasonable…

This article articulates a framework for examining the quality of formative assessment practice and provides empirical evidence in support of one of its components. Based on a study of middle school science, the study examines the accuracy of teachers' judgments of students' understanding and the relationship of such accuracy to middle school …

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the first in the kit, provides an overview of evaluation activities and a directory to the rest of the kit. Chapter 1 explicates the evaluation perspective that grounds the kit and describes the role of evaluation in…

This guide is designed to increase a school's productivity by presenting some simple yet powerful techniques for looking at the school and making decisions to address the most immediate problems. Tracking success is tracking progress and using evaluation as a tool for implementing changes from school-based management to complete restructuring.…

In this article, the authors describe various rationales for accountability testing programs over the past century. This history forms the backdrop for current test-driven reforms, including Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. The goals of the authors are first, to illustrate…