In response to citizens' need and right to know about how North Dakota students perform in mathematics, the Department of Public Instruction and the North Dakota Council of Teachers of Mathematics administered a criterion-referenced mathematics assessment in grades 4 (1,298 students) and 8 (1,475 students). Also included were items from the…

Curricular analyses, written by experienced teachers and experts, of the 1978 Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP) results and teacher expectations regarding citizenship are presented. A random sample of 7,200 Illinois students within 360 schools (grades 4, 8, 11) were tested; results reflected their educational performance in these…

The results of the 1977 and 1979 Statewide Assessment Tests in Alaska are presented. This assessment testing is part of the testing component within the Alaska Statewide Instructional Support System (SISS), and is based on specific objectives critical to a student's academic success. Objectives covered are: mathematics computation, mathematics…

This paper presents a study of the relationship between scores on the Bayley measures of mental and motor development administered at 8 months of age and performance on measures of cognitive development and school achievement administered at ages 4, 5, 6, and 7. Also studied are changes in this relationship which occur when children with extreme…

This survey of the standardized testing program summarizes the data accumulated from the most recent administration of selected instruments in October 1973. It compares these findings with information from previous years and points to a few trends and possible conclusions. Assessment of mental abilities--1973-74 is presented for grade 1, and…

Achievement test scores and measures of district and pupil characteristics were analyzed for all California school districts. Achievement test scores were found to be highly correlated among each other. The best single predictor of achievement scores was a measure of family poverty. Scholastic aptitude scores were not used as predictors.…

Factors influencing academic achievement in a school or school system were examined, using data from studies of mathematics and science achievement of high school and college bound students in Australia. Two curricular factors, opportunity to learn and time spent in learning, were related to achievement. (GDC)

This document consists of articles 1 through 39 published in the electronic journal "Education Policy Analysis Archives" for the year 2003. (SLD)

In 1998, the Kentucky General Assembly called for a new testing system known as the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) to determine how much children are learning in school. This brochure tells the basics about Kentucky's system of public education. The "Core Content" document describes what students should know and be…

This paper discusses the rationale behind and uses of high stakes testing. Much of the support for high stakes testing comes from a desire to boost student achievement by increasing student and teacher motivation to do well. There are many disadvantages to high stakes testing, including inappropriate use of the test, inadequate test development,…

This document consists of 14 articles which appeared in the electronic news bulletin, "EducationNews.org," and which were part of a series on "Test Bashing," a discussion of the use of standardized tests that focuses on controversies surrounding the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and test score improvements in Texas. The…

The consequences of large state testing are often uniformity of expectations for achievement. The largest impact of higher standards, then, are realized by traditionally disenfranchised student populations, particularly the least affluent who are most likely to bear the yoke of low expectation. This paper advances S. Messick's (1981) fundamental…

Beginning in the 1992-93 school year, the North Carolina State Board of Education authorized administration of North Carolina-developed end-of-grade tests aligned with the state's "Standard Course of Study." These state-normed tests were administered to more than 568,000 students in grades 3 through 8 in 1998-99. End-of-course tests were…

This report presents the results of the statewide spring 2000 administration of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). Third-grade students were assessed in Reading; fourth- and seventh-grade students were assessed in Reading and Writing; and eighth-grade students were assessed in Mathematics and Science. The assessments were developed by…

This booklet prepares a student to take New Jersey's Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), a test that measures the knowledge and skills that will be tested later in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment. The GEPA has three test sections (content areas): Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, and Science. The booklet tells students…