This digest considers the use of performance assessment within outcomes-based accountability systems for students with and without disabilities. Application of performance assessment to students with disabilities involves defining the outcomes, developing performance standards, developing assessment accommodations, and scoring. Implications of…

A new national assessment system could lay a solid foundation for improving schools by monitoring the effectiveness of schools and teachers and student progress toward national goals. A sound national assessment system would: (1) allow valid comparisons between schools, districts, and states; (2) provide sound data on achievement, not just…

This ERIC Digest was adapted from the Association for Childhood Education International's (ACEI) 1991 position paper on standardized testing. Since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, standardized testing programs have expanded greatly. Tests may be of pencil-and-paper or performance-oriented varieties. The purposes of tests…