Despite a pending policy change aimed at including more students with disabilities and English-language learners (ELLs) in the "nation's report card," the federal agency that administers the national testing program appears to be softening the penalty for states that fail to improve inclusion rates. The disagreement underscores the…

Many articles and reports have reviewed, researched, and commented on international assessments from the perspective of exploring what is relevant for the United States' education systems. Researchers make claims about whether the top-performing systems have transferable practices or policies that could be applied to the United States. However,…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant relationship existed between nursing students' scores on the Mosby Assess Test and the students' scores on the National Council Licensure Examination. The subjects consisted of 172 nursing students in their last semester of the Associate Degree Nursing program at the Eastern Kentucky…

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states were invited in June 1984 to participate in a project with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to assess the reading achievement of eleventh grade students. Florida, Tennessee and Virginia accepted and worked with SREB and NAEP staff to develop and administer the testing program.…

As a result of the Educational Reform Act in 1982, the Mississippi State Board of Education adopted accreditation levels from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest level. In 1988, 17 school districts were assigned to the Level 1 status by the Commission on School Accreditation, based on results of the following performance standards: Basic Skills…

Four topics related to mathematics testing for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed: (1) mathematics achievement; (2) past NAEP approaches; (3) needed changes; and (4) a new conceptual basis for profiling mathematical performance, including recommendations for strengthening current practice. The basic strategy for…

Recommendations of the Study Group on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are summarized in this report. The report is then reviewed by the National Academy of Education. The recommendations are to: (1) maintain NAEP's continuity; (2) assess the core curriculum; (3) focus on transitional grades (4, 8, and 12) and sample…

The relevance of state results on tests of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is illustrated with data from the "Digest of Education Statistics--1990" (U.S. Department of Education). Evidence indicates that the contributions of state differences such as economic or demographic differences to NAEP results cannot be…

This paper discusses the rationale for international comparisons in educational achievement, presents factors which affect the validity of such comparisons, and makes recommendations for the role of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) with respect to international studies. International comparisons are of interest in policy…

This paper examines a number of issues surrounding the addition of a dimension of international comparisons to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The basic position of the paper is that adding an international dimension to NAEP is certainly possible, but some problems will need to be overcome. Non-issues are identified and…

Commissioned papers on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have recommended new roles for NAEP, but its system of governance, as conceived in the 1960s, was not designed for all these functions. The NAEP Policy Committee, revised in 1978, never envisioned the current interest in a linkage system relating local and state…

The Council of Chief State School Officers has raised some issues pertinent to the implementation of a national project to collect statistical indicators of academic achievement and to compare them across states. The United States Department of Education shares this concern, with an emphasis on sampling schools for a school level analysis which…

The Chief State School Officers of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) have adopted a recommendation calling for comparable state measures of educational progress through multiple indicators, including student achievement. Current state criterion-referenced testing programs provide information regarding specific student skills and…

During April, 1986, approximately 60,000 Delaware public school students in grades 1 through 8 and in grade 11 were administered a battery of achievement tests as part of the state-funded Delaware Educational Assessment Program (DEAP). The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) in reading, language arts, and mathematics was administered. In…

The California Assessment Program (CAP) collects a wide range of achievement and demographic data to help local schools and districts improve their instructional programs. Tests in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, history-social science and science designed by California educators are administered to students in grades 3, 6, 8, and…