Legislation leading to the mandating of accountability testing in schools was chronicled between the publication of "A Nation at Risk" (1983) to the conclusion of No Child Left Behind (2016). Involvement in education by the federal government increased throughout the educational legislation during this time period. The Omnibus Trade and…

Rather than regard frequent and subjective testing as a negative, it should prove more beneficial for educators to offer students an opportunity to acquire life skills that will carry them through any test-taking situation. Offering students the skills necessary to succeed not only in the classroom but also through testing is where accountability…

In both purpose and practice, general education in American higher education has experienced several recurring debates and national revivals. In a world with constantly evolving technology, students need a strong general education to be flexible and adaptable to the changes of the world. General education is an important component and requirement…

What people mean when they use the phrase "content standard" varies all over the lot. In some states, content standards are little more than category labels describing collections of curricular aims in particular content areas. If a state's content standards are too numerous, then teachers do not know where to aim their instructional efforts. This…

This book examines the changes in educational policy in the U.S. and Britain over the last twenty-five years. The author contends that education in the States and Britain has been significantly transformed, through efforts to create curricular standards, increased emphasis on accountability measured by standardized tests, and efforts to introduce…

Author focused on the basic principles that should inform educational theory and methodology. (Author/RK)

An education reporter who took a leave of absence to observe competency-based education writes about his findings, which include both support and criticism of competency-based programs. (MF)

This booklet comprises excerpts from the proceedings of a conference held in Maryland to explore the related themes of accountability and the evaluation of compensatory education. Participants at the conference were administrators, teachers, aides, and parents who met in small-group work sessions. The conference is judged to have succeeded in…

Discusses the need for researchers to determine what should be tested and how when evaluating educational computing programs, describes efforts of Educational Testing Service's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure the impact of computers on achievement, and concludes that it will not be easy to evaluate computers' effects.…

Some uses of achievement tests to provide information for school administrators are described. Three systematic programs are described briefly: (1) a computer-based approach to management and planning designed to answer what is to be learned, how is it to be learned, and has it been learned; (2) a problem solving design for accountability that…

The educational accountability movement is changing the teacher's role in curriculum development from that of autonomous decision maker to agent of public school policy makers. To assess teacher reactions to factors influencing their autonomy, 75 teachers were exposed to pressures to change the content of fourth grade mathematics instruction in a…

Popham describes the evolution of his Instructional Objectives Exchange (IOX) from an objectives-dispensing enterprise to an assessment-creating enterprise. Discusses national standardized testing, criterion-referenced versus norm-referenced assessment, teacher licensure tests, and professional development activities for graduate students. (KS)

The proportion of public schools' meeting their prescribed achievement targets under the No Child Left Behind Act appears to have fallen slightly in the 2005-06 school year, while the percent classified under the law as needing improvement increased. The trends bear out earlier predictions that schools would find it increasingly hard to show…

A discussion of performance contracting, defined as an agreement between a group offering instruction and a school needing the services, is presented. Four major hazards to direct measurement of specific learning are considered: poor statement of objectives; selection of the wrong tests; misinterpretation of test scores; and depersonalization of…

This paper illustrates how changing emphases and trends in education have led to a reformulation of notions of assessment and an awareness of the limitations of current measurement technology to deal with newer conceptualizations. Discussed are: 1) the antecedents of learning and the transactions which take place during the learning process, as…