This report, which is based on an invited presentation given at the 2015 meeting of the Association of Test Publishers, is a response to the continuing proliferation of scale linking studies that have occurred since the publication of "Uncommon Measures" in 1999.The report has four parts. First, I restate the conclusions made in…

Although the number of countries conducting large-scale assessments has increased significantly over the past two decades, this has not necessarily led to the effective use of learning assessment data in policy-making and planning. To better understand the reasons for this, the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. They can be national, regional, or international; school based or household based. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning…

In July 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted to adopt Common Core's standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics in place of the state's own standards in these two subjects. The vote was based largely on recommendations by Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester and then Secretary of…

This report reviews the major international and regional large-scale educational assessments, including international surveys, school-based surveys and household-based surveys. The report compares and contrasts the cognitive and contextual data collection instruments and implementation methods used by the different assessments in order to identify…

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 idea that America was being harmed because its schools were not keeping up with those in other advanced nations emerged after Sputnik in 1957, took a firm hold on education policy when "A Nation at Risk" appeared in 1983, and continues today. Policy makers justify this concern by pointing to evidence showing that, for individuals…

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…

As part of the test development process, this technical report is intended to present the technical aspects of the tryout and pilot stages of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in mathematics. Part 1 introduces the purpose, the legislation, and the committees involved in the test development. Development of the mathematics assessment…

As part of the test development process, this technical report is intended to present the technical aspects of the tryout and pilot stages of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in Science. Part 1 introduces the purpose, the legislation, and the committees involved in the test development. Development of the science assessment…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program presents an untimed, 70-question Social Studies Test (Form 35) for grade 4 students to assess social studies skills. This document contains the test booklet only. (PN)

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program presents an untimed, 100-question Social Studies Test (Form 95) for grade 10 students to assess social studies skills. This document contains the test booklet only. (PN)

Basic skills achievement test results of pupils in the Philadelphia School District, based upon the February 1979 Philadelphia City-Wide Testing Program involving kindergarten through grade 12, are reported. The city and district performance distributions show the combined percentages of pupils in scoring within various national percentile rank…

As part of the test development process, this document provides the released mathematics items and student responses to some questions from the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in mathematics. This packet is designed for teachers and students who are interested in understanding how the open-ended items from the HSPT in Mathematics are…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program presents an untimed, 100-question Social Studies Test (Form 65) for grade 7 students to assess social studies skills. This document contains the test booklet only. (PN)