This paper addresses issues of vertical equating for the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) assessments as they relate to school accountability and determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by the recent federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act. The paper first provides a brief…

New Title I legislation--the Improving America's Schools Act--mandates that students with disabilities be included in district and statewide assessments beginning in 2001, or immediately, if such assessments already exist. Administrators should include handicapped students in assessments, when in doubt; provide needed accommodations; and report…

Offers excerpts of current assessment methods in vocational-technical education taken from the 1994 report "Testing and Assessment in Vocational Education" prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment. Includes information on Work Keys and national skill standards in the United Kingdom. (JOW)

Under the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA), Title I programs are evaluated using standards-based multiple measures. In California, school systems would like to use state standards for the evaluation, but state performance standards are still under development and content standards are very new. The Sacramento City Schools (California) has…

During the last decade many school systems began to define minimum levels of competency for their students and to construct tests to measure whether students had achieved these minimums. Many states have passed laws which require high school students to pass minimum competency tests in order to graduate. This digest overviews four areas of…

Using achievement tests to hold students and schools accountable seems an obvious idea. Students come to school to learn. Tests show which students, in which schools, are meeting learning standards and which are not. Those students and schools that are falling short should be held accountable. Of course, the rationales for accountability testing…

The progress states have made toward fulfilling their requirements under Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act is reported. Some states are reporting that they have developed content standards for some subjects, but not for others. In some states, both local school district and state standards are being developed. In all, 43 states had…

Outlines a framework for considering the validity of standards-based score interpretations and then considers the potential roles of different stakeholder groups and other participants in that process. Suggests study of a new standard-setting method, the "briefing book," which would describe alternative cut scores. (SLD)

This is the first report from a 5-year study of the classroom level effects of state assessment reforms. The first year examines changes in the teaching of writing and mathematics in Kentucky elementary and middle schools as a result of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System and the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). This report…

Defines four essential elements of a system of educational standards: (1) common, rigorous student achievement standards; (2) state-administered assessments; (3) explicit rewards for achievement; and (4) opportunity to reach the standards. Practices to ensure these conditions and enact a system based on these elements are discussed. (SLD)

This is the fourth edition of the State Student Assessment Database. This document tabulates information about each state's assessment programs based on a survey mailed to state directors of assessment in October 1995 and completed by all 50 states by February 1996. The survey was divided into the following categories: (1) general concerns; (2)…

The recent examination of the curriculum and examination systems of France and the Netherlands overlooks the real process of creating a national consensus around standards in the Netherlands, balancing local autonomy and national standards. A comment by the original authors acknowledges the implications of the Dutch approach for U.S. standards.…

The School-Based Management and Accountability Program, also known as the "ABCs of Public Education," or just "the ABCs," is the statewide school-based accountability program for public schools in North Carolina. This document reports the results of the 1997-98 ABCs, in the second year of the implementation of the ABCs in…

This paper addresses the educational, technical, legal, and practical challenges states must confront as they consider the content of the assessment, its technical quality, the capacity of educators and the public to use the results of the assessment, the benefits and additional complications of performance testing, and the overall tension betwen…

The New Jersey Assembly Education Committee studied the development and administration of the New Jersey Department of Education's skills testing program. A committee meeting received testimony about the program and reviewed correspondence. The committee has found that the academic standards of the state must be raised and that a high school…