This essay reflects on the use and value of Voices of Baltimore: Life under Segregation, a documentary film that captures and preserves the rich oral histories of seven African Americans from the Mason-Dixon border area of Baltimore, Maryland who attended segregated schools and lived through desegregation before and following the 1954 Supreme…

Through a synthesis of test publisher norms and national longitudinal data sets, this study provides new national norms of academic growth in K-12 reading and math to help reinterpret conventional effect sizes in time units. We propose "d'," a time-indexed-effect-size metric to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated"…

Our current capacity to understand or provide a context for interpreting the size of an effect in education program evaluation is limited. To address the problem, this study proposes a time-indexed effect size metric (d') to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated" control group to reach the treatment group outcome in terms…

Contends that, although national system of testing is neither efficient nor valid as means of inspiring educational reform, certain principles can lead to effective uses of assessment at local and state levels. Suggests nine guidelines for school district staff, State Department of Education personnel, and policymakers to follow in comprehensively…

Results of the second mathematics assessment show that students are alarmingly weak in problem-solving ability. (Author)

After reviewing attempts to create national school finance equity assessments, the authors propose a model of equity assessment that can be used as a national standard in judging the relative equity of state school finance models. (Author/IRT)

The authors criticize an article by John Carrol in the February 1987 "Phi Delta Kappan" in which he discussed the Reading Proficiency Scale issued by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. They feel the Reading Proficiency Scale has limited usefulness. Includes 21 references. (Author/MD)

Reviews data indicating that overall reading achievement in the primary grades is as good or better than ever before, and points to inaccuracies in critics' claims to the contrary. (MKM)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) gathers information about national levels of education achievement that helps explain and interpret other research, policy efforts, and the phenomena of unanticipated changes in American education. (Author) Primary type of information provided by report: Program Description (Program Goals)…

Examines history of Title I--Better Schooling for Educationally Deprived Children--program since its inception in 1965. Notes difficulties encountered by Title I in developing accountability models. Relates history to testing companies' reactions to federal policy. Discusses the history of assessment programs, what types of tests are used, and the…

Presents rationale for eliminating use of normal distributions when interpreting measures of intellectual ability. (DW)

Examines the implications of using the national median score for selecting children for Title I participation. (Author/AM)

To develop normative data for the revision of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the scale was administered to 4,972 children, ages 6 to 19 years, representing all geographic regions of the United States. Reliability was satisfactory for all groups except Black females below age 12 years. (Author/BW)

Reviews the Council of Chief State School Officers' effort to establish a nationwide system of educational indicators. Suggests the benefits of such a system. (MCG)

Notes that the methods used to set standards for National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) tests suggest recommendations for state-level policymakers. Explains the national assessment, basic assumptions in setting performance standards on NAEP, selection of judges, standard-setting methodology for NAEP, and measurement issues in setting…