This study seeks to share teachers' and principals' voices from middle schools in the Southeastern United States who are attempting to help their students achieve academic success. Obtaining a snapshot of middle schools in the Southeastern United States provides opportunities to recognize trends and identify challenges about the current…

This report provides a summary of states currently administering end-of-course (EOC) assessments. The number of EOC assessments administered by states, the subjects most likely to have an associated EOC exam, and the purpose of EOC exams (for example, percentage of the final course grade and/or graduation requirement) are reviewed. State policies…

In the 2014-15 school year, 47 states are administering high school assessments to gauge students' mastery of college and career readiness standards in English language arts (ELA) and math. These new assessments represent a departure from prior high school exams that measured acquisition of high school (or lower) content but provided no actionable…

Validity evidence based on test content is of essential importance in educational testing. One source for such evidence is an alignment study, which helps evaluate the congruence between tested objectives and those specified in the curriculum. However, the results of an alignment study do not always sufficiently capture the degree to which a test…

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) created the Graduate Major Field Test in Business (GMFT-B) for MBA students. This test is administered to all MBA classes at Jacksonville University for the purpose of measuring student academic achievement and growth, as well as to assess educational outcomes. The test is given in the capstone course,…

How to incorporate mobile students, who enter schools/classrooms after the start of the school year, into educational performance evaluations remains to be a challenge. As mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), all states currently require that a school is accountable only if the student has been enrolled in the school for a full…

Since the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law, schools have been allowed to administer grade-level content reading exams in the native language of English Language Learner (ELL) students for up to three years after they enter the school system. From that point, the students are expected to take the state assessments in…

We use a regression discontinuity strategy to produce causal estimates for the effect of remediation under Florida's test-based promotion policy on multiple outcomes for up to five years after the intervention. Students subjected to the policy were retained in the third grade, were required to be assigned to a high-quality teacher during the…

This paper profiles Florida's test score trends through 2008-09. Between 2005 and 2009, the percentages of students reaching the proficient level on the state test and the basic level on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) increased in grades 4 and 8 in both reading and math. Average annual gains were generally larger on the state…

One of the competitive priorities of the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top applications addressed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). States that applied were required to submit plans that addressed rigorous courses of study, cooperative partnerships to prepare and assist teachers in STEM content, and prepare…

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002), there has been increased interest in using student achievement data (through standardized tests) to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Two U.S. Department of Education secretaries, Secretary Spellings and Secretary Duncan, have expressed interest in growth models and the need to…

We evaluate the impact of Florida's test-based promotion policy on the probability that low-performing students are retained using data on the universe of third-grade students in the state of Florida from 2001 to 2004. We also examine the effect of formal exemptions to the policy on student proficiency in reading two years later. In an evaluation…

In 2004 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University transitioned from proctored examinations for distance learning courses to online examinations that are not proctored. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the midterm and final examination grades between proctored and non-proctored online examinations. Three…

These combined proceedings summarize presentations of two conference programs designed to address state-mandated student achievement issues. Dr. Terrel Bell delivered the keynote speech at a teleconference focusing on a broad perspective of competency testing. He discussed testing problems, as well as positive aspects such as comparison, diagnosis…

Remarks made at the conference are summarized in seven sections of this narrative report: (1) update: recent events concerning testing,--representing the viewpoints of school districts, professional associations, government agencies, and research organizations; (2) National Institute of Education (NIE) study of school districts' use of test and…