Test developers are responsible to define how test scores should be interpreted and used. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) directed the Secretary of Education to use results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to confirm the proficiency scores from state developed tests. There are two sets of federal definitions…

"Accountability" and "assessment" are terms that are frequently misused and misunderstood. This document is intended to stimulate conversations about assessment of and accountability for student learning, to raise assessment issues that may prevent improved student learning, and raise awareness about the relationship between assessment and…

The "Career Ladder Technical Manual: A Guide To Interpreting Your Scores. Teacher Edition, 1986," of the Tennessee Career Ladder Evaluation System, is reviewed. Intended as a guide for the teacher candidate to interpreting test scores, the manual explains the score report for a lay audience. Raw scores and standard scores are explained.…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was initiated in the mid-1960's to collect student achievement information over time and describe the data in ways meaningful to the nation's educational and civic leaders. This work presents the Florida perspective on how NAEP can be improved to aid educational decision-makers in the…

This guide is designed for educators involved in teaching, developing curriculum, or counseling students. It describes six new forms used to report the results of 10th-grade student performance on the Florida State Student Assessment Test, Parts I and II (SSAT-I and -II): (1) Parent Report, SSAT-I; (2) Student Report, SSAT-I; (3) Student Report,…

The purpose of this report is to provide the public with the results of the second Michigan Educational Assessment Program Career Development assessment of 4th, 7th, and 10th graders. The introduction provides a perspective with which to view the results. Section II explains how the assessment was conducted and how the data are organized and…

The primary purpose of the South Carolina Statewide Testing Program is to assess the achievement of fourth, seventh, and tenth grade public school students. Test results provide educators with information which facilitates the decision-making process. For the second time, Form U of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills was the instrument used to…

The extent to which performance assessments can have unintended and undesirable consequences is not yet clear, but preliminary evidence suggests several issues of bias and fairness. Among these is the sheer difficulty of scoring complex performance assessments, as Vermont's experiences with portfolio assessment illustrate. (SLD)

In 1978, the South Carolina state legislature passed Act 631, resulting in the mandated Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) to improve the quality of instruction in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. This report is the documentation of a 1-year Southeastern Public Education Program project, the Basic Skills Assessment…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) battery are administered in New Mexico school districts as part of a state mandated assessment program. The tests are administered to students in grades three, five, and eight to measure achievement in the basic skills areas of reading, language, and mathematics. This report contains various types of…

Increasing numbers of state-mandated testing programs have resulted in the selection of norm-referenced tests (NRTs) for statewide assessment. Adaptation or customization of existing tests has become a viable solution for individual programs. Changes in test instruments have arisen from the behaviorist approach and mastery learning, minimum…

Criterion-referenced tests were used to measure basic skills and competencies in mathematics, reading, and writing in Texas. Results reported on 433,520 students in grades 5 and 9 who took the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) in 1980. Ninth graders were tested on competencies and proficiency levels expected to be mastered by students in…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress (CAEP) is modeled after the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and has been in operation since 1971. This report is the culmination of a multi-year effort by the Connecticut State Department of Education to make its CAEP program even more useful to classroom teachers and other…

The efforts of the Florida Institute for Instructional Research and Practice in designing, developing, and analyzing the subject area knowledge tests of the Florida Master Teacher Program are described. A total of 13 subject area examinations was developed in 1984-85, and 5 additional tests were developed the following year. For each subject area…

Results are summarized of New Jersey's Minimum Basic Skills reading and mathematics tests which were administered to all state public school students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 11, in March, 1979. These results are also briefly compared to the results of the 1977-1978 testing program. Almost 300,000 students are reported to have taken these tests,…