Evaluation occurs within a specific context and is influenced by the economic, political, historical, and social forces that shape that context. The culture of evaluation is thus very much embedded in the culture of accountability that currently prevails in public sector institutions, policies, and program. As such, our understanding of the…

It is often argued that as "consumers" of higher education, students, parents and leaders need objective, comparative information generated through systematized assessment. In response, we critique this trend toward reductionist, comparative, and ostensibly objective assessments in the United States. We describe how management has…

The absence of universally accepted definitions for direct and indirect assessment motivates the purpose of this article: to offer definitions that are literature-based and theoretically driven, meeting K. Lewin's (1945) dictum that, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" (p. 129). The authors synthesize the literature to…

Background/Context: The target of assessment validation is not an assessment but the use of an assessment for a purpose. Although the validation literature often provides examples of assessment purposes, comprehensive reviews of these purposes are rare. Additionally, assessment purposes posed for validation are generally described as discrete and…

States face a critical decision in the next year: how to assess student learning against new college- and career-ready standards. This decision has important ramifications, because testing and assessment have long had a powerful influence on instructional practice. Thus the assessment that states choose will affect teaching and learning in…

This article is a commentary of a paper by Derek C. Briggs and Frederick A. Peck, "Using Learning Progressions to Design Vertical Scales That Support Coherent Inferences about Student Growth," which describes an elegant potential framework for at least beginning to address three priorities in large-scale assessment that have not been…

When planning and evaluating community-level initiatives focused on policy and environment change, it is useful to have estimates of the impact on behavioral outcomes of particular strategies (e.g., building a new walking trail to promote physical activity). We have created a measure of estimated strategy-level impact--"population dose"--based on…

A state education agency (SEA) can pull a powerful lever for school turnaround by setting goals publicly and releasing reports on progress toward those goals at turnaround schools to build public support for turnaround efforts. SEAs can gather information for reporting from data they already have available. This report clarifies indicators and…

The conceptualization and measurement of education finance equity and adequacy has engaged researchers for more than three decades. At the same time, calls for increased academic accountability and higher student achievement in K-12 public education have reached new levels at both the national and state levels. Aligning these represents an…

America's education system is based on the assumption that barring illness or an extraordinary event, students are in class every weekday. So strong is this assumption that it is not even measured. It is the rare state education department, school district, or principal that can tell one how many students have missed 10% or more of the school year…

Ziegler and Phillipson make a strong case for the need to reconsider traditional models of gifted education. Although their evidence and argument are compelling, the reviewers argue that several additional steps are needed to justify the theoretical foundation of the theory in order to facilitate its evaluation by researchers. First, Ziegler and…

Engineers often measure temperature for a wide variety of applications and assessments. This article describes how STEM educators can use thermometers or temperature sensors to help students understand how heat disperses through fluids, both air and water. It also provides hands-on learning about air and water heating systems. (Contains 4 figures.)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced the No Child Left Behind Act with great fanfare and enthusiasm. Granting more power to states and curbing what was seen as federal overreach was well received. However, the new legislation maintains a predominately test-based accountability system with a federal mandate for interventions in well over…

The Evidence-based Literacy Support-"Literacy Octopus" Trial tested a range of dissemination interventions and resources, all of which aimed to engage schools in using evidence-based materials to improve teaching and learning in Key Stage 2 literacy. Four delivery partners provided interventions. These included light-touch,…

Sound evaluation planning requires numerous decisions about how constructs in a program theory will be translated into measures and instruments that produce evaluation data. This article, the first in a dialogue exchange, examines how decisions about measurement are (and should be) made, especially in the context of small-scale local program…