This document is the first of a semi-annual "stocktaking" publication to analyze various political trends impacting education and young people. Bellwether hopes to help the field separate signal from noise and provide context around various issues and trends affecting the sector. The impact of COVID-19 school closures on schools and…

We use event history analysis on an aggregate dataset from 1997 to 2018 to understand the state-level antecedents associated with the adoption of test-based grade retention policies. Findings indicate that the educational conditions of a state to be more predictive of retention policy adoption than the political, economic, and geographic measures.…

This monograph has grown out of a series of discussions and a six-month period of reading and reflecting on the literature which were initiated by Fritz Mosher's suggestions to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine the "standards" question. Conversations with Mosher himself and the staff of NAEP have been most…

This report is about understanding the periods of progress and the periods of stagnation in changes in the achievement gap that have occurred over the past several decades. The authors try to understand what might have contributed to the progress as well as probe the reasons that may account for the progress halting, in the hope of finding some…

This historical research will provide school leaders with a broad conception of the conditions, forces and processes behind the development of Economics Education. It serves as a case study of past and current practices and approaches to advocacy in economics education. Since it began in 1885, economics education has experienced many obstacles and…

Draws lessons in contracting for evaluations from the 1995 evaluation of a U.S. Marine Corps personnel evaluation system and a 1991 evaluation of the procedures for setting cutting scores of the National Assessment Governing Board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. These national, politically sensitive evaluations provide lessons…

In an interview, Willard Wirtz discusses his recent report, "Measuring the Quality of Education." Wirtz believes that the National Assessment of Educational Progress should be widely publicized and used and directed toward framing nationwide standards of educational quality. (Author/WD)

Political and legislative pressures have posed a number of measurement issues and challenges to the development of sound, valid voluntary national tests (VNTs). This paper focuses on what appear to be the most difficult technical issues related to the VNT proposed by President Clinton in 1997. Technical issues refer to psychometric issues, as…

Roles suggested for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in proposed national testing are discussed. Recent proposals center around monitoring, evaluation and accountability, and serving as a benchmark for other tests. Monitoring has been the traditional function of the NAEP, and in this role, its influence has been substantial.…