Education officials have long hoped that the statewide academic assessments most students take each year could be used not only for accountability but also to guide instruction. Congress established the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program in 2015 to help address this goal, offering up to seven states flexibility from…

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…

This report identifies the states with current or pending state-level end-of-course assessment (EOC) programs, the subjects in which EOCs are administered in the states, and the EOCs (if any) students must pass to graduate from high school. Twenty-two states currently administer one or more EOCs to all students in an EOC course. This number will…

In 1972, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia instituted the Regents' Testing Program (RTP) to provide systemwide information on the status of student competence in reading and writing and to provide a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain minimum levels of competence in these areas. Since 1972, some…

The Georgia Criterion Referenced Tests (GCRT), tests of basic skills, administered to Georgia students in grades four, eight, and ten measure competency in reading and mathematics. Results are reported for students in Atlanta and throughout the state. The reading and mathematics objectives were organized into skill areas. Atlanta students scored…

The statewide implementation of the Georgia State Board of Education (GSBE) policy for high school graduation requirements was begun in September, 1980. It specifically stated that the GSBE would be responsible for assessing the basic skills, or learner skills, of students enrolled in public schools. It further stated that each local school system…

The project reviewed, tested, and analyzed the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute's (NOCTI) test series (written and performance for skilled occupations), using a sample of 16 examinations, to determine their appropriateness for use by the State of Georgia in their selection and certification of vocational and technical educators.…

Performance-based teacher certification in Georgia is centered on: criterion-referenced tests, and on-the-job assessment procedures for student teachers and beginning teachers. A state-funded contract was awarded to develop teacher certification tests, resulting in a 250-item pool and 15 criterion-referenced tests for 32 teaching fields. Cutting…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Florida has implemented some of the most sweeping education governance changes of any state; all levels of education are housed in the Department of Education, which is overseen by a commissioner who…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Georgia was the first state to have state and regional P-16 councils, and its regents' office in the University System of Georgia oversees a variety of projects that focus on connecting K-12 and…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Oregon has been a leader in K-16 reform through its development of the Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS), which articulated postsecondary expectations and linked them with K-12…