With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, public school districts in the United States are working toward improving the achievement of their students on state standardized tests of accountability. Through the use of a quantitative methodological approach, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship, if any,…

The Office of Educational Accountability has compiled and analyzed indicators of progress in developing a statewide accountability system in Minnesota. This report focuses on the state as a whole, not on specific schools or districts. Chapter 1 is an introduction to Minnesota's accountability history and current concerns. Chapter 2 examines…

This present study examined the intended and unintended consequences of Minnesota's high stakes graduation exam on students with disabilities. Historically, little empirical data have been collected and the scant data available suggest some significant unintended consequences for educational accountability systems (e.g., the retention of students…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

Recently the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a project to connect the scale of the MCA and BST with NWEA's RIT scale. Six Minnesota systems participated in the study, using test information from a group of over 13,000 students enrolled in third, fifth, and eighth grades who took these Minnesota Assessments and NWEA tests in the…