Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, large-scale assessments have come to play a central role in federal and state education accountability systems. Teachers and parents have expressed a number of concerns about their state testing programs, such as too much time devoted to testing and the high-stakes use of testing for teacher evaluation.…

The focus article "Road Maps for Learning: A Guide to the Navigation of Learning Progressions" by Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) is a veritable tour-de-force, covering a great deal of education ground while spanning the heights from models of the interplay among curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to interpretations of student…

In this commentary on the "Peabody Journal of Education" special edition, the author addresses implications of the contributing articles to three central domains of interest to states engaged in or considering the development of an alternate assessment on modified academic achievement standards: (a) identifying an eligible student population, (b)…

In focusing on why and how standards might be incorporated into the evaluation process, two themes are explored: the extent to which the Evaluation Research Society (ERS) Standards differ from other recent standards-setting activities and their applicability to local and state-level evaluation efforts. (Author/LC)

The state of Rhode Island has recently embarked in a new state accountability system for public elementary and secondary education. An overview of the system is provided, coupled with an understanding of accountability systems as technologies of social control. The ramifications of such technologies are discussed along with the costs, benefits,…

The focus on raising standards reflects a national trend in which New York State is considered a leader. The new requirements adopted by the State Board of Regents have generally been supported by business leaders and all major educational policy advocacy groups. There are positive signs that achievement is improving, but there is a performance…

In support of the National Education Goals of 1990, the Goals Panel convened a Technical Planning Group to offer background guidance for the National Council on Education and Standards in its task of establishing world-class academic standards for the United States. Recommendations of the Planning Group consider two types of content standards:…

Claims the Australian Literacy Benchmarks for Year 3 and Year 5 set unrealistic standards, are educationally unworkable, and represent an unacceptably imprecise and confusing set of statements and criteria. Compares the Literacy Benchmarks with the New South Wales English Language and Literacy Assessment (ELLA). Claims the Benchmarks represent a…

Defines four essential elements of a system of educational standards: (1) common, rigorous student achievement standards; (2) state-administered assessments; (3) explicit rewards for achievement; and (4) opportunity to reach the standards. Practices to ensure these conditions and enact a system based on these elements are discussed. (SLD)

In recent months the idea of a single national test seems to have lost some of its momentum, while use of national standards to which voluntary regional or state tests would be indexed seems to have gained support. Nationally, there does not seem to be any organized attempt to fuse the national education goals into the state process beyond the…

A state superintendent of education discusses standards from the point of view of a policymaker, acknowledging both educational and political elements. The objective for the policymaker is to take the work of researchers and educational theorists and make it something that practitioners and ultimately the public can understand. The first thing is…

The Rhode Island Commissioner of Education was authorized to appoint and work with a State Standards Council to develop recommendations on the establishment of measurable statewide educational achievement standards at two levels: basic skills and minimum competency. The purpose of setting standards and measuring achievement is to define minimally…

The Comprehensive Plan for the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) in New York State contains both long-range goals and short-term actions for the next 20 years with a series of specific actions proposed for the current 3-year (1985-87) period. The first chapter provides program background with sections on OVR'S mission, recent trends in…

Pennsylvania's education reforms seek to accomplish many aims of outcome-based education--namely less reliance on time as the primary organizational component and greater focus on what students must know and be able to do to graduate from high school. The point is to raise academic achievement by establishing high standards. (Author)

The governor of South Carolina provides information about that state's Education Improvement Act of l984 and explains how it brought about educational reform. (FL)