An educational assessment embodies an argument from a handful of observations of what students say, do or make in a handful of particular circumstances, to what they know or can do in what kinds of situations more broadly. This article discusses ways in which research into the nature and development of expertise can help assessment designers…

The Early Assessment Program (EAP) has emerged as a national model for states seeking to design policies that increase the number of students who leave high school ready for college and careers. In addition, the two national consortia designing new assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards have recognized the EAP as a model for the…

The world in which learning and assessment must take place is rapidly changing. The digital revolution has created a vast space of interconnected information, communication, and interaction. Functioning effectively in this environment requires so-called 21st century skills such as technological fluency, complex problem solving, and the ability to…

The guiding principles and procedures for pupil assessment in Portuguese compulsory education were established by the Implementing Order No. 1/2005, 5th January, with amendments introduced by the Implementing Orders No. 18/2006, 14th March and No. 5/2007, 10th January, and apply to the learning objectives and competencies defined for the various…

The National curriculum assessment (NCA) in Wales has evolved from common foundations into a system that is now distinct from that in England. The influence of the political and social milieu of Wales can be seen both in the distinctive features that have been in place from the outset and in the more radical changes introduced since 2002. In this…

This report discusses five issue areas in which it is believed substantial improvements in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) might be achieved. The unifying themes among these issues are to increase the visibility of NAEP, its relevance to policymakers, and its utility to state and local agencies. The first of five substantive…

The Swedish school system comprises: (1) Pre-primary school (Forskola), typical age 1-5; (2) Preschool class in the compulsory school (Grundskola) typical age 6 (participation voluntary); (3) Compulsory school, typical age 7-16, grades 1-9, and (4) Upper secondary school, 17 programmes (4 mainly academic, 13 vocational), typical age 16-19, grades…

The Polish school education system makes a distinction between two types of assessment: (1) Intra-school or internal assessment; and (2) External assessment. The idea of introducing external examinations into the Polish school education system emerged in 1992. This was directly inspired by study visits to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands…

Although much has been written about educational evaluation, few guidelines exist for consumers--project directors, school administrators, curriculum developers, legislators, teachers, parents, and boards of education. Several cautions surface from a review of the literature. First, tests that are based on program objectives are most useful to…

The British Columbia Learning Assessment Program is a province-wide program designed to aid in decision-making processes about curriculum revisions; preservice teacher education and in-service programs; resource allocations; and future research needs; and to inform various publics of educational attainment. The article provides an overview of the…

The majority of evaluation reports abstracted in this document were completed by the Research and Evaluation Branch of the Department of Research, Evaluation, and Information Systems of the Dallas, Texas, Independent School District during the l976-77 school year. The abstracts were written to provide useful information to decision-makers and are…

Covering the period of 1973-76, the Tennessee Exemplary Project in Career Education (TEPCE) was designed to develop a comprehensive career education program, in the Greeneville and Greene County, Tennessee, schools. Objectives for each level in the educational program were established for the awareness (K-5), exploration (6-8), preparation (9-12),…

Despite the fact that Paterson has a high level of documented need, the city is below the State and Passaic County averages for professional staff per 1000 weighted pupils and per pupil expenditures for instructional materials. Teacher salaries are among the lowest in the State and teacher morale is reputed to be low. Even after two years of…

The National Assessment is a plan for a systematic survey of knowledges, skills, understandings, and attitudes. The development of citizenship assessment described in this paper typifies the processes undergone for each subject--art, career and occupational development, citizenship, literature, mathematics, music, reading, science, social studies,…

The major emphasis of the Kentucky Educational Assessment Program is to determine the actual level of performance of Kentucky pupils in relation to the desired levels of performance established in the 1972 report entitled "Goals of Education in Kentucky." The report was published by the Kentucky State Department of Education and contains…