This briefing note considers the place for statutory testing in primary schools during 2020-21, in the light of the COVID crisis. The English system of primary statutory assessment, culminating in SATs tests in Year 6, was suspended during the 2020 lockdown. Yet many questions remain about how primary assessment should resume, given that COVID-19…

There are sound educational and examining reasons for the use of coursework assessment and practical assessment of student work by teachers in schools for purposes of reporting examination grades. Coursework and practical work test a range of different curriculum goals to final papers and increase the validity and reliability of the result.…

Background/Context: There is a deep and yawning chasm between the world of tests and testing practices as they ought to be and the actual tests and testing practices now imposed on American students, educators, and schools. That chasm of theory and practice is a function of the dominant paradigm of educational reform, with its theory of action…

Not much is known about the ways in which assessment data have actually been used in education policy to date. Understanding the role of assessments in informing system-level decision-making is a first step towards helping stakeholders improve the design and usefulness of assessments. Moreover, this understanding can help to further discussions…

Opposing views are expressed on the value of standardized testing (ST) in public schools. The pro-ST view argues that these tests provide comparative data needed to plan and evaluate schools and individuals. The opposing view focuses on problems of reliability, validity, and bias; and on the damage done to children. (IAH)

This report analyzes the validity issues that arise in the context of educational accountability systems. The report addresses validity from three interlocking perspectives. The first explores the theory of action underlying accountability provisions. It considers problems emerging from the distance between aspirations for accountability in…

The recently enacted No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The new law substantially increases the testing requirements for states and sets demanding accountability standards for schools, districts, and states, including the setting of measurable adequate yearly progress objectives for all…

Good reforms can have harmful results if equity effects are ignored. As California implements its accountability system, certain questions must be addressed concerning the system's data use, measurement features (consistency, meaningfulness, achievement growth, achievement gaps among groups), instructional improvement focus, incentives for…

This book presents the views of teachers, teacher educators, and administrators who write about accountability, testing, and standards programs. The chapters are: (1) "From Policy to Practice: The Research" (Allan A. Glatthorn); (2) "New York's Test-Driven Standards" (Jean Fontana); (3) "Voices from a Native American…

Two trends have converged during the past three decades to change the face of public school education in America. First, achievement testing has been greatly expanded in terms of both the quantity of tests available and the number of uses for the information collected from testing. Second, there has been a significant increase in the development…

This paper examines the issue of test score inflation in the context of test-based accountability. The first section provides some background on the topic, describing what exactly is meant by test score inflation, reviewing the existing evidence for such inflation, and discussing why one should or should not be concerned if scores are inflated.…

Uses of tests and assessments as key elements in 5 waves of educational reform during the past 50 years are reviewed. These waves include the role of tests in tracking and selection emphasized in the 1950s, the use of tests for program accountability in the 1960s, minimum competency testing programs of the 1970s, school and district accountability…

The gap between policymaker enthusiasm for the uses of student assessment and expert caution is analyzed by examining new forms of student assessment as an education policy strategy. The study is based on interviews with 34 national and state policymakers and focuses on their differing expectations of what assessment policy can accomplish and how…

An outcome of the excellence movement has been an increase in state control of education, especially through state-mandated testing, as testing has become the preferred means of trying to effect change in education following the popularity of accountability and minimum competency testing. Suggestions for using tests prudently are listed. (DCS)

The steady growth of state testing programs and its implications for the measurement community are discussed in terms of testing purposes (monitoring, accountability, and curriculum advancement) and test development, administration, and reporting. It is important that the measurement community address crucial issues to maintain its substantial…