The Australian field of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is globally respected for its research and practice achievements over a period of some 30 years. However, this essential field of pedagogy is being diluted in the current Australian reform agenda which is firmly founded on a traditional vision of English as first language, and…

Enactment of policy on diversity and learning in Australian schools is evident in "diversity talk" in daily discourses of school teachers. From policy documents to daily staffroom conversations, there is extensive use in contemporary Western educational discourse of ethnolinguistic categories. The categorization of students to groups on…

The National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessments are designed to assess literacy and numeracy of all Australian school children in years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and to act as diagnostics as to whether children are meeting intended educational outcomes. Tests began in May 2008, and have been run annually since then. Results of the…

We evaluated computerized training and testing programs with children who were having difficulties learning prereading skills. The programs were derived from equivalence research and were written in authoring software designed for educators. After learning to match uppercase and lowercase printed letters to the corresponding letter names (Tasks 1…

This paper explores gifted education and plans for inservice teacher education in gifted education programs in Iowa. A survey was conducted of 238 Iowa public school districts having programs for gifted students. Initial analysis of the data involved a frequency count for each of 13 survey items which rated program emphasis on major provisions of…

Teachers are practically unanimous in their opinion that the benefits derived from a mandated testing program are less than the costs in teacher/pupil time and money, the same information might be obtained from fewer tests, and teacher evaluations are more accurate than mandated tests in assessing pupils' abilities. (Author/CM)

A method to investigate consequential evidence of validity for a state assessment developed to change teacher instructional practices is presented. Survey responses from over 1,000 Kansas teachers were used to construct a path model that allowed effects of the state assessment to be studied at building and teacher levels. (SLD)

This paper reports on teachers' views of the effects of compulsory numeracy testing in Years 3, 5, and 7 in Queensland schools. Teachers were surveyed on (i) the validity and worth of the tests, (ii) the impact the tests had on their teaching of mathematics, and (iii) how they were using the results of the tests. Although the results reveal a…

This study examines the impact of the Pennsylvania writing assessment policy on writing instruction and teaching methodology. Drawing on self-reported teacher perceptions and classroom practices, the study also attempts to identify the factors that influence teacher beliefs and their use of materials and processes related to the state writing…

Teachers' reactions to the administration and scoring of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests (MSPAP) were studied, focusing on their direct and indirect exposure to tasks and evaluative criteria through the experience of scoring the MSPAP. Since its inception in 1991, the MSPAP has been scored in-state by certified teachers…

This article examines one of the challenges to the integration of classroom and large-scale portfolio assessment, a challenge posed by the use of a student's classroom portfolio for large-scale assessment of his or her individual competencies. When work is composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents, whose work is being judged? The…

The Center on Education Policy (CEP) has been studying state high school exit examinations since 2002. This is the sixth annual report on our comprehensive study of exit exams. The information comes from several sources: our survey of states that have mandatory exit exams, interviews with state officials, media reports, state Web sites, and case…

This review looks at the reform movements in the nation's two most populous states--Texas and California. Both states are in a desperate pursuit to demonstrate student competency of standards and achievement by way of student performance on standardized tests to meet federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) compliance. In examining the accountability…

The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of creating positive washback by focusing on factors in the background of the test development process and anticipating the conditions most likely to lead to positive wash-back. The article reports on a multiphase empirical study investigating the washback effects of a needs-based test of spoken…

The use of classroom assessments in the context of the new assessment system for California schools, the California Learning Assessment System, is discussed by describing the California Learning Record (CLR). The CLR emphasizes the central role of teachers in equitable assessment of student learning for students of diverse cultural and ethnic…