Approaching assessment from an end-to-end perspective helps with appropriate assessment selection, design, and practice. Thinking in terms of end-to-end reminds teachers to keep in sight the aspirations (or ends) associated with any assessment activity. It also helps teachers to consider how to integrate assessment activities and capabilities into…

While federal law requires students to be tested in math, English-language arts and science in particular grades, states are still struggling to mount the resources and expertise necessary to fully implement college and career readiness standards, let alone new assessments aligned to these higher standards. New assessments are not only more…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) has produced an explosion of interest in the use of assessment to measure and improve student learning. Initially focused on annual state tests, educators quickly learned that results came too little and too late to identify students who were falling behind. At the same time, evidence from the…

Written language is a complex set of skills that facilitate communication and that are developed in a predictable sequence. It is therefore possible to analyze current skills, identify deficits, plan interventions, and determine the effectiveness of the intervention. To effectively accomplish these tasks, educators need to choose appropriate…

This report describes the purposes of benchmark assessments and provides recommendations for selecting and using benchmark assessments--addressing validity, alignment, reliability, fairness and bias and accessibility, instructional sensitivity, utility, and reporting issues. We also present recommendations on building capacity to support schools'…

While formal, standardized assessment instruments provide valuable and necessary information about students' various abilities and skills, the use of informal and qualitative assessment approaches has the benefit of leading directly to instruction based squarely on an individual student's needs, strengths, and existing skills. This article…

In choosing language testing alternatives appropriate for their language education contexts, language teachers need to keep in mind the purposeful nature of language assessment. Purposeful language assessment involves focusing what is to be accomplished by language assessment, specifying intended uses of language tests, selecting appropriate…

In 1990 the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and the National Education Association (NEA) published "Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students." Standard 1 of this document states, "Teachers should be skilled in choosing assessment methods appropriate for…

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

The paper looks at purposes of educational assessment of children with learning disabilities, assessment of the whole child, the plan for an assessment battery, the nuances of carrying out the assessment, and communication of the results to maximize appropriate follow up. Assessment purposes identified include screening, determining eligibility,…

A survey of 105 preschool special education teachers asked what assessment instruments they used, why they had chosen them, and what factors were important in their choice. The rationale cited most often was that the test was already in use. Test scope and ease of use were also important factors. (Author/VW)

Describes a three-step plan is described that general and special educators can use to obtain assessment information from children with linguistically diverse backgrounds. The steps include identifying the assessment's purpose (which involves how students approach learning tasks, apply their knowledge, and attain final outcomes), knowing the child…

Strategies are discussed that provide a theoretically sound, valid, and practical framework for evaluating the processes used in identifying gifted/talented students. The strategies stress assessing the relevance of instruments used, their reliability and validity, their limitations, and using a variety of evaluation techniques. (JDD)

There are now established methods and models to assess critical thinking in any discipline. The approach selected will depend on how critical thinking is defined, whether national norms are needed, and how the results will be used. (Author)