The reactions of local educators (teachers, principals, and central office personnel) to the initiation of statewide mandatory minimum competency tests and the effects of implementing these testing programs were studied. Variations among school districts within two states were considered. Items from a survey of individual educators were combined…

The results of administration of the Washington Pre-College Test (WPCT) to a statewide sample of eleventh-grade public high school students during March of 1985 are reported. In addition to the test results, supporting information is reported on the students, including grades, credits earned, courses taken, academic and career interests, and…

This newsletter is part of an effort to improve mastery of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS). Responses of teachers to a survey in the Spring of 1987 concerning their beliefs and facts about the TEAMS are reported, along with clarifying facts about this criterion referenced test. Teaching to the TEAMS is advisable because…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS), a criterion-referenced test, was mandated by the Texas legislature in 1984 to be instituted beginning with the school year 1985-86. This is the first report of TEAMS, which replaces the formerly used Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS), by the Austin Independent School District…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the processes followed and the modifications made to the Alabama state minimum competency testing program for exceptional students, as well as to provide results for exceptional students tested through spring 1985. A committee of lay citizens and professional educators identified basic competencies in…

Rasch methodology facilitates effective achievement comparisons to meet evaluation needs at the district, school, classroom, and individual levels. The five-year District Gains Graph developed by the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools charts fall-to-spring achievement gains in basic skills for Grades 3-8, as measured by the Portland Achievement…

This document contains the codebooks and data record layouts for the 1985-86 Public-Use Data Tapes, Version 1.0. The Public-Use data tapes are created by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to provide outside researchers access to NAEP data. This book provides coded data collected on and from third graders and 9-year-olds via…

Approximately 20,000 eighth-and eleventh-grade students in Texas were tested on nine career education objectives; (1) career planning and decision making; (2) occupational information; (3) job acquisition and retention; (4) work attitudes; (5) human relations skills; (6) self evaluation; (7) personal responsibilities; (8) economic factors; and (9)…

After outlining the goals, budget, and personnel of the research and evaluation branch of the Dallas Independent School District, the results of 150 program evaluations are summarized and interpreted. Most evaluations are based on achievement gains as measured by standardized achievement tests. Results are often analyzed by district, subdistrict,…

Characteristics of the Minnesota Statewide Educational Assessment Program, initiated by the state department of education, are: stratified student samples based on five sizes and types of school districts; assessment of academic subject areas in periodic cycles; subject area objectives cooperatively planned with the curriculum unit in the…

Since 1906, hundreds of thousands of Alberta, Canada secondary school students have taken some form of provincially set and scored examinations. The grade levels of students required to write such examinations have changed several times, and tests have involved formats which included various combinations of essay, short answer, matching, and…

Test results (1968-1977) on the English and mathematics achievement subtests of the Washington Precollege Test (WPC), administered annually to the vast majority of college bound students in the state of Washington, were examined for evidence of test score decline. The following information from 300,000 students was analyzed by both sex and total…

The Continuous Uniform Evaluation System (CUES) provides the means for Arizona school districts to demonstrate accountability for achieving the goal of assisting all public school students in Arizona to develop the basic skills of reading, writing, and computation. These suggested guidelines for the development and implementation of a continuous…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program and its contribution to the improvement of education in the state are described in this report. The Program provides local and state educational decision-makers with necessary information on human and financial resources and student attainment of sets of performance objectives thought to be necessary for…

By 2008, according to this policy brief, half the states are likely to have adopted high-school exit exams. These exams, which students must pass to graduate, are part of state accountability systems and are above and beyond the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. This brief discusses high-school exit exams. It begins with answers to…