The indefinite nature of test fairness and different interpretations and definitions of the concept have stirred a lot of controversy over the years, necessitating the reconceptualization of the concept. On this basis, this study aimed to explore the empirical validity of Kunnan's (2008) Test Fairness Framework (TFF) and revisit the established…

Education accountability and its building components has been the focal point and yet a convoluted issue. The current study aims to give a comprehensive account of indicators of education accountability in e-learning. To this end, this two-phase study was conducted on Iranian English as Foreign Language context. The first phase was qualitative in…

Informed by the ideology of 'deliverology', performance measurement has become a core component of how English schools are held accountable for the quality of their provision. A wealth of research conducted in diverse national contexts where this approach has been influential has suggested that the unintended harms it generates -- including a…

Perceived shortage of principals, increased accountability demands, the changing role of principals, and the growing influence of the state over school administration have created a set of challenges for principal certification and licensure that have propelled a renewed need for analysis of certification and licensure processes. Recent calls to…

The purpose of the current study is to estimate reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the Measure of Instruction for Creative Engagement (MICE) instrument. The MICE instrument used an iterative process of evidence collection and scoring through teacher observations to determine instructional domain ratings and overall…

Given worldwide prevalence of low-stakes testing for monitoring educational quality and students' progress through school (e.g., Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Program for International Student Assessment), interpretability of resulting test scores is of global concern. The nonconsequential nature of low-stakes tests…

With the proliferation of test-based accountability policies, educators and students alike are under pressure to improve test performance. However, little is known regarding the stress experienced by educators in response to these policies. The purpose of this article is to describe the initial development and validation of a new measure of stress…

This guide is designed to assist States, agencies, and/or facilities who work with youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk (N or D). The information in the guide will benefit those who are (a) interested in implementing pre-posttests, (b) in the process of identifying an appropriate pre-posttest, or (c) ready to evaluate current testing…

Accountability mandates often prompt assessment of student learning gains (e.g., value-added estimates) via achievement tests. The validity of these estimates have been questioned when performance on tests is low stakes for students. To assess the effects of motivation on value-added estimates, we assigned students to one of three test consequence…

The English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) is used in the state of Michigan in the United States to fulfill government-mandated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements. The test is used to promote and monitor achievement in English language learning in schools that receive federal NCLB funding. The goal of the project discussed here was…

This report is part of South Carolina's effort to move toward "100 percent performance funding" for the state's public colleges and universities and results from a task force's investigation of ways to assess critical thinking. The following eight major findings are reported: (1) policy makers must determine priorities; (2) critical…

This resource guide, second in a series of three volumes, is a compilation of assessment instruments, tools, or checklists. These instruments were submitted by active professionals in the field of assistive technology and demonstrate the range of instrumentation in use today. Each item submitted is reviewed according to a standard format that…

This workbook is one of six professional development manuals prepared by experienced adult assessment staff to help new adult education (AE) instructors understand how to administer and interpret standardized tests and how such standardized tests can provide one basis for instructional placement and curriculum choices. It also provides information…

Alverno College (Wisconsin), a women's liberal arts college, has developed an Alumni Career Level Classification (AACLC) scheme to measure alumna career advancement and demonstrate institutional accountability. This validation study was part of a larger longitudinal study of two entire cohorts of students entering the college in 1976 and 1977, of…

A project undertaken to field test the Institutional Report Form (IRF), a tool designed to measure the potential for student consumer abuse in postsecondary educational institutions, is described. The IRF was designed by the American Institutes for Research for use by state licensing agencies, and the field test was intended as a federal technical…