This National Academy of Education (NAEd) volume provides guidance to key stakeholders on how to accurately report and interpret comparability assertions concerning large-scale educational assessments as well as how to ensure greater comparability by paying close attention to key aspects of assessment design, content, and procedures. The goal of…

Many children find school tests difficult, but children who are deaf or hard of hearing may find them especially so. Reports from the 2008 Test Equity Summit indicate that disproportionate numbers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing at all grade levels are failing critically important tests even though their classroom work may show that…

This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

First introduced in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has evolved over time, emphasizing education reform priorities that mirror the changing national education policy conversation. The most recent iteration of ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), was enacted in 2001. It emphasized improving outcomes for…

Some states are developing alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) to measure the academic achievement of some students with disabilities (Albus, Lazarus, Thurlow, & Cormier, 2009; Lazarus, Thurlow, Christensen, & Cormier, 2007). These assessments measure the same content as the general assessment for a given…

Place- and community-based education--an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local--addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people's attention beyond the classroom to the world as…

Sources of test bias are discussed and steps to prevent or reduce bias in tests are listed. Test bias can occur because of the way test materials are written, the conditions of administration, and the interpretations given the results. Steps to prevent or reduce bias arising in the test development process include: (1) using heterogeneous sets of…

This guide is divided into four parts. Part I, an introduction, contains a discussion of why item banking has failed thus far to become a widely accepted procedure for test development, as well as some miscellaneous information on item banking that may be useful. In Part 2, completed questionnaires from 22 organizations with item banks give…

Court cases are presented that illustrate some of the issues that courts have dealt with in the area of educational testing. While this study was developed primarily for parents, the booklet should also help school administrators and testing professionals learn about court cases and precedents relevant to some major issues in educational testing.…

The purpose of this manual is to provide measurement specialists and educational evaluators with procedures for identifying the key testing issues of importance to citizen groups and aid them in adapting materials for use in workshops with these groups. The manual is divided into five sections to assist the trainer in developing all aspects of a…

Nevada statutes and administrative regulations specifically prohibit the disclosure of the content of examinations used in the Nevada Proficiency Examination Program. This document focuses on procedures to insure examination security. The state's test security requirements are outlined. Other sections deal with access to and copying of examination…

This handbook will assist principals and school testing coordinators in implementing the spring 2007 administration of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). Information regarding administration timeline, reporting, process, online tools and contact personnel is discussed. Contents include: (1) Scheduling; (2) Identify Primary Test…

This booklet is written in non-technical language and focuses on educational testing issues currently of interest to parents. Some of the questions parents commonly ask about tests are identified and answered. Questions include: (1) What are tests and why are they used?; (2) How are they used?; (3) How many different kinds of tests are there?; (4)…

This brief introduction to testing is geared to parents. Types of tests are defined, such as standardized tests, achievement tests, norm referenced tests, criterion referenced tests, and aptitude tests. Various types of scores (grade equivalent, percentile rank, and stanine are also defined, and the uses made of tests by administrators, teachers,…

Examines teachers' major concerns about testing and offers advice about how to encourage teachers to respect the testing program. (WD)