Test security is not an end in itself; it is important because we want to be able to make valid interpretations from test scores. In this article, I propose a framework for comprehensive test security systems: prevention, detection, investigation, and resolution. The article discusses threats to test security, roles and responsibilities, rigorous…

Papay (2011) noticed that teacher value-added measures (VAMs) from a statistical model using the most common pre/post testing timeframe--current-year spring relative to previous spring (SS)--are essentially unrelated to those same teachers' VAMs when instead using next-fall relative to current-fall (FF). This is concerning since this choice--made…

The manual is presented in the form of a policy grid. The grid includes a consolidated list of General Educational Development (GED) Testing Service policies regarding the GED® test and overall GED® program. The grid combines all of the policies into one unified table and supersedes any prior policy manual.

Choosing whether to test via computer is the most difficult and consequential decision the designers of a testing program can make. The decision is difficult because of the wide range of choices available. Designers can choose where and how often the test is made available, how the test items look and function, how those items are combined into…

The first national youth fitness evaluation conducted in the United States was in 1958. Since that time, schools have continued to administer fitness evaluations using a variety of tests with no national-level assessment of youth fitness [Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2012]. However, in September 2012, the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (PYFP)…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Drug-Testing Program was created to protect the health and safety of student-athletes and to ensure that no one participant might have an artificially induced advantage or be pressured to use chemical substances. This publication describes this program in the following chapters: (1) NCAA…

While much of the work in language testing is concerned with constructing quality tests in order to measure language knowledge in reliable and valid ways, there has been a significant movement in language testing research that examines tests in the context of their use in education and society. This line of research exits from the notion that…

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has been tracking and analyzing state policies on assessment participation and accommodations since 1992. The purpose of the current analysis is to update information on these policies that was last reported by NCEO in 2008 (based on 2007 data). In addition, current state accommodations policies…

This handbook outlines procedures for sharing student data between schools and the Ministry of Education, and answers questions pertaining to provincial examinations. It supports the work of both educators and the Ministry, which works with schools to produce transcripts and administer provincial exams. The following are appended: (1) Forms; and…

This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

Multiple uses of the same assessment may present challenges for both the design and use of an assessment. Little advice, however, has been given to assessment developers as to how to understand the phenomena of multiple assessment use and meet the challenges these present. Particularly problematic is the case in which an assessment is used for…

The No Child Left Behind Act sanctions the use of NAEP scores to confirm state testing results. The U.S. Department of Education, as test developer, is responsible to set forth how NAEP scores are to be interpreted and used. Thus far, the Department has not published a clear set of guidelines for using NAEP achievement level scores to conduct a…

The purpose of this document is to establish the statewide policy for the participation of students in the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS). The central elements of this policy are: (1) Rules for inclusion in the statewide assessment program (U-PASS); (2) Limited allowances for exempting or excusing students from…

Many districts and schools across the U. S. have begun to develop and administer assessments to complement state testing systems and provide additional information to monitor curriculum, instruction and schools. In advance of this trend, the Jackson Public Schools (JPS) district has had a district benchmark testing system in place for many years.…

Many students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing are eligible for a signing accommodation for state and other standardized tests. The signing accommodation, however, presents several challenges for testing programs that attempt to administer tests under standardized conditions. One potential solution for many of these challenges is the use of…