This guide is designed to assist States, agencies, and/or facilities who work with youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk (N or D). The information in the guide will benefit those who are (a) interested in implementing pre-posttests, (b) in the process of identifying an appropriate pre-posttest, or (c) ready to evaluate current testing…

Developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" (Revised 2014) addresses professional and technical issues of test development and use in education, psychology, and…

Monitoring, evaluation, and quality assurance in their various forms are seen as being one of the foundation stones of high-quality education systems. De Grauwe, writing about "school supervision" in four African countries in 2001, linked the decline in the quality of basic education to the cut in resources for supervision and support.…

Policy makers have focused on promoting test-based accountability systems as a tool for correcting a wide variety of educational problems, including low standards, weak motivation, poor curriculum and instruction, inadequate learning, and educational equity. This article argues that the appropriateness of testing, or any other form of assessment,…

The need for an independent mechanism that regulates, or audits, the testing enterprise is discussed along with a critique of current mechanisms for challenging a high-stakes test or its use and the need for independent auditing of the commercial test industry. Models for an auditing mechanism are reviewed. (SLD)

The importance of educational accountability and assessment literacy is recognized as a long-term challenge to the educational system. The complexities in becoming an assessment literate and provide an opportunity to the educators to display their effective learning is discussed.

Almost every state has in place a state assessment and accountability system. These systems vary greatly in their characteristics but share a common global purpose of improving teaching and learning. Some of the variations in the state systems are discussed and illustrated with examples from selected states. Issues that are critical to the value…

Critical issues addressed in the literature with regard to teacher evaluation, appraisal instruments, and their use are reviewed. The focus of the study is to provide ideas and suggestions on improving the evaluation process, something best achieved by matching the appropriate instrument with that which it purports to measure. (SLD)

This National Reading Conference Policy Brief provides information related to high stakes reading tests and reading assessment. High stakes reading tests are those with highly consequential outcomes for students, teachers, and schools. These outcomes may include student promotion or retention, student placement in reading groups, school funding…

This paper is designed to initiate discussion about new educational accountability systems and the implications of these systems for educator preparation. Accountability systems are often developed with little regard to a clear definition of accountability, but once the systems are in place, and states are showing (realistic or political)…

Examines dilemmas of educational accountability and why large-scale assessment of student achievement has come to dominate educational reform policy. Provides a brief history of large-scale assessment in education in Canada. Looks at both expected and unexpected consequences of large-scale assessment and calls for educators and politicians to…

The theory, presented by Ginsberg (TM 508 964), that quantitative indicators are likely to be corrupted when used for purposes of accountability is supported by the results of the Learning Disabilities Identification Study. The quantitative indicator in this case had to do with selection of pupils eligible for services for the handicapped. (BW)

A school and community must state their goals for students and then, avoiding the use of commerical tests, design a means of evaluation to determine if those goals have been met. (Author/JM)

In this article, the author offers a new vision of assessment that has the potential of bringing about remarkable gains in student achievement. The time has come to take advantage of the new understanding of the potential of assessment and to fundamentally rethink the relationship between assessment practices and effective schools in the United…

Describes some forces that have shaped current attitudes toward evaluation of education, presents five guidelines to help in discussions of assessment, and charges teachers with the responsibility of making evaluation effective. (DF)