For years California has been a leader in public education. In 1999, the state implemented some of the strongest content standards in the country through its main accountability metric, the Academic Performance Index (API). The state has also signed onto the Common Core State Standards, taking important steps to ensure its students are college-…

An overview of cost analysis is provided as it relates to a particular educational reform--the use of performance or authentic assessment on a large scale as a means of transforming entire educational systems. The focus of the inquiry is the New Standards Project (NSP), a joint effort of the National Center on Education and the Economy and the…

Although instructional systems design (ISD) has traditionally been used as a micro-level model to design instructional interventions, there has been in recent years a trend toward using the systems approach for more macro-level applications such as performance technology and educational systems design. This paper provides an overview of…

Assessments should improve performance by providing usable feedback, and should not merely audit it. Problems with educational accountability policies stem from a flawed view of student assessment. Intellectual excellence cannot be obtained via one-time mandated tests composed of proxies for real challenges. Common standards should be developed…

The Educational Quality Indicators (EQI) initiative was a collaboration between Alberta Education (Alberta, Canada) and 12 school jurisdictions to develop and implement indicator systems to measure the success of the educational enterprise. Ten concurrent collaborative projects were conducted between 1989 and 1992 to develop indicator systems for…

Lessons from the 18-year institutional experience of Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) with assessment for the improvement and verification of student learning are summarized. Principles are described that should inform a national assessment system with the dual purposes of improvement and accountability by incorporating the following key…