In recent years, scores on the annual state reading and mathematics tests used for accountability have gone up in most states. These trends in state test scores do not always coincide, however, with trends on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federally sponsored assessment that is administered periodically to…

This report compares state math and reading proficiency scores in grades 4 and 8 to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) basic scores for the period of 2005 to 2009. The study found that scores on state tests and NAEP have increased in most states with sufficient data. Also included with the report are profiles for the 23 states that…

The report draws from Center on Education Policy's eight-year study of high school exit exams to identify long-term trends in state policies and student performance. It highlights a growing trend among states to establish alternate pathways to graduation for students who are struggling to pass exit exams. The report also analyzes exit exam pass…

This report is the first in a series of reports describing results from the Center on Education Policy's (CEP's) third annual analysis of state testing data. The report provides an update on student performance at the proficient level of achievement, and for the first time, includes data about student performance at the advanced and basic levels.…

Many in the research and policy worlds have taken for granted the existence of a phenomenon known as the "plateau effect," wherein test scores rise in the early years of a test-based accountability system and then level off. Drawing from our database of reading and math test results from all 50 states going back as far as 1999, the…

This chronological review of research and educational literature traces the growth in the use of standardized and locally developed assessment instruments in community colleges over the past decade. The literature review covers the following aspects of the issue of student assessment: (1) studies from the early 1970's showing a negative attitude…

The Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) were developed as a result of the state's Excellence in Education Act of 1985, which called for assessments of core competencies and key skills in reading/language arts/English, mathematics, science, and social studies/civics. The revised MMAT, like the original test, includes four multiple-choice…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) to assess the academic performance of students who participated in remedial course work during their first term of enrollment, and to determine the participation rate of remedial-eligible students. The fall 1980 administration of a basic skills test battery found 2,968 of 6,726…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of including special education students in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) accountability subset of students. In 1999, the accountability subset was expanded to include scores for all special education students not exempted and all bilingual/limited English proficient (LEP)…

This report presents results from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) tests administered in the spring of 1997 and results from end of course tests in Algebra and Biology. Only a slight decrease in the percentage passing the eighth-grade social studies test marred the otherwise across-the-board rise in percentages meeting minimum…

Differences between national testing as discussed in the most recent report of the National Council on Education, Standards, and Testing, and by the Office of Technology Assessment are reviewed. National testing is not new, but the political use of nationally standardized achievement tests is a recent and dangerous trend. (SLD)

During the 1982-83 school year, the California Achievement Test (CAT) was administered to students attending Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) in grades 3,5,8 and 11. This report describes and displays the county-wide and school test results which are further broken down by racial/ethnic group and sex. An analysis of the data…

As part of its academic testing program, the Des Moines Public Schools administer standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) is a norm-referenced standardized test battery that is administered to students in grades 3, 4, 6, and 7. In the 1997-98 school year, over 415 (approximately 5%) of the students…

The Minister's Advisory Committee on Student Achievement (MACOSA) of Alberta, Canada studied student achievement in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Students were tested in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies (grade 12 only). Tests were based upon cognitive objectives considered to be important to the curriculum, and results were to…

The 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) included provisions specifying that states and districts must include students with disabilities in their assessment systems with reasonable accommodations, that states report on the performance of students with disabilities with the same detail and frequency they report on…