Author Jonathan Howland writes here that he is hardly the first to suggest that much of the testing going on in the educational system today appears dumb. The tidal change that brought schools the Common Core standards is a maneuver born of an admission: educators took their eye off the ball, testing for too much of the wrong thing--thin skills…

A state education agency (SEA) can pull a powerful lever for school turnaround by setting goals publicly and releasing reports on progress toward those goals at turnaround schools to build public support for turnaround efforts. SEAs can gather information for reporting from data they already have available. This report clarifies indicators and…

Over the last 10 to 15 years, each province and territory in Canada has introduced curriculum based on clearly defined learning goals. They use different labels--for example, "learning outcomes" in Manitoba and Alberta, "expectations" in Ontario--but all are intended to be "standards-based" systems where the focus is…

This handbook is designed as a quick reference for first-year teachers who find themselves in an assessment driven environment with little experience to help make sense of the language, underlying philosophy, or organizational structure of the assessment system. The handbook begins with advice on developing and evaluating effective learning…

Teaching and testing for critical thinking can be a challenge for new and experienced social work educators because critical thinking has no operational definition. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a tool from the wider context of education that can help new and experienced social work educators to think more precisely about what it…

Teaching and testing for critical thinking can be a challenge for new and experienced social work educators because critical thinking has no operational definition. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a tool from the wider context of education that can help new and experienced social work educators to think more precisely about what it…

Today, educators are expected to achieve high standards of learning for all students as they face the rapid changes brought about by the technologies and social challenges of this age. However, their expectations of what schools can do are really still an expression of their cultural anxieties. In a basic way, these challenges are the same as they…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act established learning standards that were higher than those of previous educational systems. The main gauge for assessing how well students measure up to these standards is a statewide system that evaluates what students know and can do. In 1991, the Kentucky State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education…

Although the realities of higher education accurately match the aims of early educators, there are limits to our ability to measure the learning that occurs in colleges and universities. As higher education has been made available to a greater quantity of participants, the demand for accountability has increased. Accountability concerns vary for…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) collected data on the mathematics performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year old Americans in 1973, 1978, and 1982. An additional assessment in grades 3, 7, and 11 is planned for 1986. Educational objectives to be used in the 1986 assessment were contributed, reviewed, and revised by a committee of…

This paper details the development of the high school general mathematics examination and reading comprehension tests for grades one through eight for the curriculum referenced testing program in Charleston County School District, South Carolina. While the basic developmental approach was similar, problems encountered in developing the two types…

The Charleston County School District (CCSD) has recently begun development of criterion-referenced tests (CRT) in different subject areas and for different grade levels. This paper outlines the process that CCSD followed in the development of math and language arts tests for grades one through eight and area exams for required high school…

In 1985-86, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will undertake the fifth national assessment of science knowledge, skills, and attitudes in 9-, 13-, and 17-year old Americans. The science objectives have been developed and reviewed by committees of scientists and educators. The objectives presented in this document are grouped…