This brochure is designed to acquaint persons involved in elementary and secondary instruction in New York State with State syllabi and the State testing program. The New York State testing program was mandated to measure student achievement and program effectiveness in the areas of mathematics, English language arts (reading and writing),…

Information about the Delaware Educational Assessment Program and the performance of Delaware public school students during 1986-87 as measured by a nationally-normed standardized achievement test are presented. The presentation is designed for use by the educational community and the general public. Program features include: (1) statewide…

The Delaware Educational Assessment Program is described, and results of the spring 1984 implementation of the program are presented. The program involves: (1) statewide standardized testing for grades 1 through 8 and 11 in reading, English, and mathematics; (2) supplemental testing in science and social studies for 11th graders; (3) calculation…

A project was conducted to develop materials that could be utilized by teachers for informal assessment of the needs of students in vocational programs. Sixteen modules were developed to help teachers identify some of the areas in which students have special learning needs, clarify various levels of abilities, and distinguish the different…

Focusing on current elementary and secondary school assessment practices as reported by a representative group of teachers and principals across Ontario, this study was designed around the following components: (1) an examination of current practices of school boards, school staffs, and individual teachers in the assessment of student achievement;…

Six research papers that have been published by the staff of the Center for Statewide Educational Assessment at Educational Testing Service are presented. In "A Selection of Self Concept Measures," Joan Knapp explores questions of defining and measuring self concept. In another paper, she examines some problems of measuring attitudes toward…

Two focus groups of test and measurement experts were held to explore the use of out-of-level testing for students with disabilities. The participants (n=17) included state and federal level assessment personnel, test company employees, and university professors. A content analysis of the narrative results indicated that there was no clear…

The General Accounting Office (GAO), at the request of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education, conducted studies on the extent and cost of testing in the United States, the experience of Canada in testing, and initial efforts to set standards for judging student performance on…

For the past five years, Vermont has been developing an innovative statewide assessment system in which portfolios of student work in mathematics and writing are a key element. The use of mathematics portfolios, particularly in elementary school, is a novel aspect of the assessment system. This study examines the elementary school mathematics…

This paper documents student, teacher, and administrator attitudes toward the initiation of performance-based tests on a statewide level in Mississippi. The initial study surveyed approximately 620 test participants in grades 1 through 10 during the period between the fall test administration and the receipt of the test results in January. The…

This study explored fourth-grade teachers' understanding of mathematical problem solving, an aspect of the Vermont portfolio assessment program that has been largely ignored. Teachers' conceptions of problem solving, their knowledge of problem-solving strategies, their selection and evaluation of problem-solving tasks, and their instructional…

This report is a graphic presentation of teacher and student information, revenue and expenditure data, test results, and other student outcomes for each public school district. The indicators in the district report reflect the increased student enrollment (594,326) and staff (38,290) in 1993, as well as the new cost accounting system used by the…

The experience of the Canadian provinces with large-scale testing programs is reviewed to suggest answers to questions currently discussed in the United States regarding the proposed national system of achievement testing. In the Canadian provinces, tests are linked to provincial curricula. Standards and assessments are not set by experts with no…

The Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was established in 1985 to compare academic achievement among schools and districts and to give curriculum and instructional guidance. Biennially, it tests all students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. Using a matrix sampling design, each student…

Results for the Spring 1989 Delaware Educational Assessment Program are presented. The assessment involved the administration of a newly normed test--the Stanford Achievement Test, Eighth Edition--to approximately 65,000 public school students in grades 1 through 8 and 11 during the period extending from April 5 through 18, 1989. Among other…