This document is written primarily for policy makers and state department of education staff who are considering through-year assessments, as well as consultants and contractors state departments rely on. The document identifies essential things to consider when designing or evaluating a through-year assessment program. The paper is organized into…

In March 2019, The New Mexico Public Education Department (NM PED) convened thirteen statewide community engagements to gather public input to reimagine the state assessment system. Following these community input meetings, the NM PED convened the New Mexico Task Force for Student Success (Task Force), which was comprised of key education…

The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) marked the beginning of a new development cycle for accountability systems. State leaders once again have an opportunity to redesign their accountability systems based on the provisions included in ESSA and to ensure that systems improve outcomes for all students. The correct identification of…

Describes the Birmingham (Michigan) Public Schools Program Evaluation Plan. Included is an overview of the plan, the reason why the plan was developed, the cost of the plan, and a step-by-step description of procedures. (Author)

Identifies nine categories of essential elements found in three successful experiential education programs. Categories of program elements are: purposes; setting; characteristics of participants; learning strategies; student roles; instructor roles; product of learning activities; management and support; and program outcomes. (JD)

This paper presents and illustrates some principles for organizational development approaches to improving school climate. It discusses a specific structure for facilitating school improvement entitled Program Development Evaluation, and it illustrates the use of school climate assessments for school diagnosis and the evaluation of improvement…

The history and outcomes of the Richardson Study, to assess the state of gifted education and make recommendations for its improvement, and the Pyramid Project, to assist four school districts in implementing the study's recommendations, are chronicled. (MSE)

A search of professional literature identifies skill in assessment and the ability to develop a well-structured program implemented with direct, rather than incidental, instruction as the two general areas of competence that influence mastery teaching in reading. (NEC)

This document describes how a local district can prepare for the implementation of the community education concept. It proposes a planning system that utilizes community involvement in assessment, goal setting, and program design. Specific implementation strategies are presented. (Author/MLF)

Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in…

In November, 1985, the Council of Chief State School Officers adopted a plan for developing educational indicators. The plan provided for the development of a common measure of student achievement to be collected across states beginning in 1988-89. In order to design a student achievement assessment program, the states were asked to give their…

The purposes of this manual are to provide the content area teacher with an understanding of and means for implementing reading skills in content areas. The five chapters in the manual are designed to assist the content area teacher in helping students read the materials required of that subject. Chapter one helps the teacher define reading and…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs have taken on a new importance in recent years because of changes in society. This paper examines OST programming and suggests reasons and mechanisms for integrating outcomes and research into program design. It explains and promotes the integration of outcomes and research into program development, provides…

In an attempt to increase the usefulness of future National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) findings, yet retain the usefulness of past assessments, a framework for the conduct of assessments is presented. This framework is supported by agreement on three major goals, by overall methods for reaching those goals, and by firm concepts of…

The School Reform Assessment (SRA) project began in 1987 with the objective of developing indicators of student coursework that reliably and validly measure this central feature of schooling, while remaining sensitive to major policy changes and the information needs of policymakers, and efficiently collecting and reporting data. This paper…