The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) permits the Secretary of Education to use NAEP achievement level scores, in concert with other data, to confirm state testing results. The U.S. Department of Education has not yet published a guidance document describing how NAEP might be used appropriately. A review of the literature from the Department and…

The utility of modified item response theory (IRT) models in small sample testing applications was studied. The modified IRT models were modifications of the one- and two-parameter logistic models. One-, two-, and three-parameter models were also studied. Test data were from 4 years of a national certification examination for persons desiring…

The multimethod approach used to collect a assessment data at the local and state levels for the Louisiana Teacher Assessment Program is described. This program develops information about a new teacher's competence that can be used to suggest instructional improvement activities and to decide on qualifications for certification. The first…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics offers the most comprehensive picture available of elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The value of the SASS would be even greater if information on districts and schools could be related directly to student outcomes. A relatively inexpensive…

The Tennessee value-added assessment system (TVAAS) is described. TVAAS is a statistical process measuring the influence which school systems, schools, and teachers have on indicators of student learning. Initially, TVAAS will furnish information at the system level for grades three through eight in math, science, reading, language, and social…

In the 1970s and 1980s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) built a longitudinal record as the Nation's Report Card based on periodic brief assessments of a modest but representative sample of the nation's students. In 1990, data collection was expanded from a sample of 10,000 students in each grade and subject area to 100,000…

The seven chapters of this theme issue explore current developments in research into educational accountability. State educational performance reporting policies, resource allocation for accountability, and educational reforms in Canada, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are discussed. The final chapters consider accountability policy research. (SLD)

Commemorating the work of Anne Cleary, the author considers the need for research on assessment in the practice context, provides an example of research in context, and proposes general areas of development for assessment research in the context of practice. Research has shown that effects of testing programs on practice are often not those that…

The original National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been criticized for its limited ability to provide information that is useful at a variety of levels. As a result, Congress authorized a voluntary NAEP Trial State Assessment Program for the assessment of mathematics at grade 8 in 1990, reading at grade 4 in 1992, and mathematics…

As the latest in a series of studies analyzing the data reported on Tennessee's school district report cards, this paper focuses on finding a common statistical treatment to examine the impact of predictor variables on dependent variables. Investigations of the 1988-89 report card data explored the relationships among eight school district…

Identifies important criteria for assessing the quality of educational research and applies these 20 identified criteria to 2 recent international comparative studies in education, the Second International Science Study and the first International Assessment of Educational Progress. The major types of criteria are utility, propriety, and accuracy.…

This report documents the design and data analysis procedures of the Trial State Assessment Program of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Today the NAEP is the only survey using advanced plausible values methodology that uses a multiple imputation procedure in a psychometric context. The 1990 Trial State Assessment collected…

The 1990s show distinct changes from the 1960s in terms of the views held by education practitioners, policymakers, and the public concerning the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Developments such as the national education goals, the prospect of voluntary national education standards, and the possibility of a national system of…

Recent investigations of the extent to which students with disabilities are allowed to participate in major national data collections used in measurement-driven education reform suggest that 40 to 50 percent of students with disabilities are typically excluded from major assessments, although they are included to a greater degree in assessments…