While scholars of educational accountability policy will not be surprised at the power of local implementers in modifying accountability efforts, Kentucky's street-level debate splits two constituencies in defining a fair system. Advocates for the education of all children including the poor and minorities support the continuous improvement model,…

This report is the product of the first year of study of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) Study on exploring data and methods to assess and understand the performance of states participating in the SSI. The report describes three sets of studies. The first studied valid and reliable measures of student achievement, and how to combine…

This paper addresses the controversy about use of "out-of-level" testing, the practice of assessing students (usually those with disabilities) with a lower-level version of a test. The controversy pits unintended instructional consequences against "accurately" measuring performance and avoiding student frustration. Introductory…

"Learning Results" legislation clearly articulates that all students will be included in state assessment at the fourth grade, eighth grade, and eleventh grade levels. The Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) has been revised to measure the standards detailed in Maine's "Learning Results." All students in Maine will participate in the state level…

The findings in the present study show that an understanding of subject matter tends to be more important than the forms which academic interrogation may take. Hence a solution to the problem of cultural bias seems to relate to remedial academic skills. (Author)

The validity of the equipercentile hypothesis of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System norm-referenced evaluation model was examined using 3,224 seventh- and ninth-grade students. Findings from confidence interval procedures contradicted the equipercentile hypothesis. There was a pattern of large gains for students not receiving any special…

A survey of 579 special education professionals investigated the perceived roles of the professionals who use tests and the functions that various tests serve. The issue of turf guarding in assessment responsibilities among professionals working with the learning disabled was considered. (SW)

A survey of 150 British teachers in schools for the severely mentally handicapped to investigate techniques used for language and communication assessment is discussed. (SB)

Reports on a study in which passages from children's literature were prepared using cloze and presented to college and elementary school students. Reveals that neither group of students did well on the task. Questions the desirability of using cloze for matching readers to creative writing. (FL)

Curricular strategies for preventing examination anxieties, developed by the University of Newcastle medical school rather than adopting medical or psychological treatment methods for students, are discussed. The changes and students' satisfaction and the school's attitude towards program improvement are reviewed. (Author/MLW)

Describes three procedures (with sample items) developed to measure conceptual growth in children: (1) a short answer type achievement paper test; (2) stimulus cards; and (3) card sorting task. Tests were designed to enable investigators to observe, record, and quantify student's thinking without disrupting or distorting it. (DS)

An evaluation scheme developed from a dispositional assessment perspective is described and applied to vocational rehabilitation cases from a rural context. The dispositional model is considerably more conservative than a diagnostic or predictive model and provides useful feedback about weak aspects of the assessment process. (Author)

Argues that "we are moving toward the notion that the national policy-oriented evaluation may not ask a useful question--useful neither to the national policy-maker nor to the educator. On the other hand, the research question which seeks to understand the teaching/learning process (rather than to evaluate a program) may ultimately be the most…

Discusses how the use of video media as a mode of language presentation influences the definition, purpose, and research agenda of a second-language listening comprehension instrument. Video media is used as an umbrella phrase to describe the cluster of media in which dynamic visual elements are blended with auditory elements to create a whole…