Analysis of Qatar's standards-based student assessment system, the first in the region, offers several lessons for other nations instituting similar reforms. These include the need to coordinate on standards and assessment development, allow sufficient time for a fully aligned assessment, and communicate about the purposes and uses of testing.…

In recent years, policymakers have begun to emphasize the goal that all students graduate from high school college- and career-ready (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of State Boards of Education, & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2008). Research…

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…

In most large-scale assessments of student achievement, several broad content domains are tested. Because more items are needed to cover the content domains than can be presented in the limited testing time to each individual student, multiple test forms or booklets are utilized to distribute the items to the students. The construction of an…

Whether to adopt national standards and tests has long been a subject of lively debate in the United States. With 47 states now participating in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and a commitment from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to allocate hundreds of millions in stimulus funds to the development of common tests, the country is…

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…

State assessment systems must address both technical and policy issues as assessments and accountability practices are developed and implemented. These technical and policy issues have been expanded from traditional large-scale assessment to new alternative assessment approaches required by law and developed in every state. The primary purpose of…

The Department of Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation (EDMS) at the University of Maryland is working to develop Master's degree programs that are oriented around developing assessment professionals for work in applied settings. Two fundamentally different sets of experiences are being developed: (1) assessment development, administration, and…

This brief monograph, intended for preschool teachers and administrators, explains various aspects of the assessment and evaluation of children and early childhood education programs. The value of evaluation procedures for program development is noted. The different forms that research designs and tests can take are explained. It is emphasized…

Approximately 20,000 eighth-and eleventh-grade students in Texas were tested on nine career education objectives; (1) career planning and decision making; (2) occupational information; (3) job acquisition and retention; (4) work attitudes; (5) human relations skills; (6) self evaluation; (7) personal responsibilities; (8) economic factors; and (9)…

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),…

Three conference sessions focused on attempts to implement minimum competency testing programs at various educational levels. In each of the sessions particular attention was paid to planning for the development of a minimum competency testing program; the processes of development, initiation, and interpretation of the results; and difficulties…

A method of developing measurement instruments to assess academic achievement in proficiency-based education is presented. Materials and exercises are sequenced to correspond to major activities which must be completed in developing local assessment systems. The exercises contained in this workshop guide have been field tested and can be followed…

The Kentucky Educational Improvement Act of 1978 mandated local school districts to initiate two programs: (1) screening and diagnostic test; and (2) development of district educational improvement plans outlining remedial programs or activities. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS/S) were selected as the statewide screening instruments…

This guide is essentially designed as a teaching aid for those who would inform planners, officials of educational ministries, school administrators, principals, and teachers about educational outcome measurements. In outline and graphic form, the guide presents topics for discussion in a seminar dealing with how to obtain information on…