Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, large-scale assessments have come to play a central role in federal and state education accountability systems. Teachers and parents have expressed a number of concerns about their state testing programs, such as too much time devoted to testing and the high-stakes use of testing for teacher evaluation.…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

This report was requested by the Lunenburg, Massachusetts Public Schools through the Merrimack Education Center. Under the agreement with the Center, the consultant, with the assistance of several associates, evaluated the statewide program in the town of Lunenburg. Objectives were to determine the system's total evaluation needs from an…

School testing programs in many cases have been limited to obtaining an IQ score and achievement scores in reading and mathematics for each student. Testing in the U.S. Department of Defense Overseas Dependents Schools followed this pattern and was under attack from many sides. Consequently, the testing program was suspended in 1971 to provide…

Several aspects of national competency tests are discussed: two conceptualizations; arguments pro and con; the federal perspective; a distillation of support and opposition to arguments judged unique to national competency tests; and a hypothetical procedure for implementation. (MH)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was initiated in the mid-1960's to collect student achievement information over time and describe the data in ways meaningful to the nation's educational and civic leaders. This work presents the Florida perspective on how NAEP can be improved to aid educational decision-makers in the…

A generalizable systems-based needs analysis model was developed to help school district testing and evaluation offices evaluate current problems with their information processing systems and identify additional computer capabilities required to upgrade their systems. The model contains four main phases, namely: definition of the department…

The experiences of state and local education agencies in implementing the RMC evaluation models in their evaluations of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are discussed with emphasis on the problems encountered, suggestions for resolving these problems, and encouraging results which have been reported. Four activities are…

The Minister's Advisory Committee on Student Achievement (MACOSA) of Alberta, Canada studied student achievement in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Students were tested in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies (grade 12 only). Tests were based upon cognitive objectives considered to be important to the curriculum, and results were to…

Recommendations of the Study Group on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are summarized in this report. The report is then reviewed by the National Academy of Education. The recommendations are to: (1) maintain NAEP's continuity; (2) assess the core curriculum; (3) focus on transitional grades (4, 8, and 12) and sample…

The major purpose of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is to provide information useful for improving the quality of American elementary and secondary schools. NAEP has focused more on the measurement of academic achievement than on the need for information on learning contexts. Additional information is needed about why…

This report concerns the governance of the structure of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), especially the law and the role of the Assessment Policy Committee (APC). The major sources of evidence include interviews with APC members and National Institute of Education (NIE) staff, minutes of APC meetings and historical documents…

This paper examines a number of issues surrounding the addition of a dimension of international comparisons to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The basic position of the paper is that adding an international dimension to NAEP is certainly possible, but some problems will need to be overcome. Non-issues are identified and…

Rasch methodology facilitates effective achievement comparisons to meet evaluation needs at the district, school, classroom, and individual levels. The five-year District Gains Graph developed by the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools charts fall-to-spring achievement gains in basic skills for Grades 3-8, as measured by the Portland Achievement…

This paper discusses higher-order cognitive skills, provides examples of appropriate test item content in various subject areas, and describes higher-level cognitive skills which might be tested by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Higher-order cognitive skills are said to be more difficult to measure than simpler skills;…