The use of assessment results to inform school accountability relies on the assumption that the test design appropriately represents the content and cognitive emphasis reflected in the state's standards. Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the certification of accountability assessments through federal peer review practices,…

In 2018, 26 states administered a college admissions test to all public school juniors. Nearly half of those states proposed to use those scores as their academic achievement indicators for federal accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); many others are planning to use those scores for other accountability purposes.…

There has been much discussion recently about why the percentage of students scoring Proficient or above varies as much as it does on state assessments across the country. However, most of these discussions center on the leniency or rigor of the cut score. Yet, the cut score is developed in a standard-setting process that depends heavily on the…

Standards-based reform, as codified by the No Child Left Behind Act, relies on the ability of assessments to accurately reflect the learning that takes place in U.S. classrooms. However, this property of assessments--their instructional sensitivity--is rarely, if ever, investigated by test developers, states, or researchers. In this paper, the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connotation of performance labels used in standard setting. For example, do the performance labels "basic," "proficient," and "advanced" hold different connotations than "limited knowledge," "satisfactory," and "distinguished"? If these…

Recent implementation of Nebraska's Standards-based Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) introduced a unique opportunity to examine the benefits and drawbacks of a teacher-led state assessment system. STARS is unique among state assessment systems in that statewide tests are replaced by locally developed assessments designed by…

The validity of high-stakes assessments and accountability systems is discussed in relation to the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The extent to which content standards and assessments are cognitively rich, the challenges in setting performance standards, and the impact of high-stakes assessments on instruction and student learning…

Since 2001, considerations of school reform have been dominated by performance-based accountability. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has changed the way policymakers and educators talk about education, look at educational performance, and think about educational challenges. Nonetheless, NCLB and the state accountability systems it has spawned have…

The No Child Left Behind Act allows states to vary (a) the trajectories they select to move from the baseline percent proficient or above in 2002 to the 100% proficient goal in 2014, (b) the minimum number of students required for reporting of disaggregated subgroup results, and (c) whether or not they will use confidence intervals when…

Precedents from litigation on state graduation assessments provide insight into the potential legal arguments challengers may raise with regard to mandated content and performance standards for all students. Clearly documented, fairly administered procedures that adhere to professional recommendations will be the hallmark of defensible standards.…