This executive position paper identifies preferred modes of communication for parents and guardians in a small New Jersey Public School District. Research was conducted because there has been an unprecedented test refusal initiative by parents and guardians of New Jersey Public School Students who are mandated to sit for Partnership for Assessment…

"No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) dictates students in Grades 3, 5, and 8 pass state tests to be promoted. Accordingly, most state education codes require students to pass reading and math exams for promotion. The majority of those who fail, however, appear to be promoted anyway. This article addresses core questions concerning the paradigm…

In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the seventh-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…

From the 1980s to the present, educational accountability in the United States has grown dramatically. Such accountability in U.S. school districts, although driven primarily by external demands, has internal manifestations as well. The chapter traces the historical development of internal evaluation in American school districts, then highlights…

This paper offers facts and figures on Utah's education status for the school year 2010-2011. This paper contains the following: (1) Core CRT Language Arts Testing, 2010; (2) Core CRT Mathematics Testing, 2010; (3) 2010 Public Education General Fund--Funding by Source and Expenditures by Function; (4) 2009-10 Public School Enrollment Demographics;…

This paper offers facts and figures on Utah's education status for the school year 2011-2012. This paper contains the following: (1) Core CRT Language Arts Testing, 2011; (2) Core CRT Mathematics Testing, 2011; (3) 2011 Public Education General Fund--Funding by Source and Expenditures by Function; (4) 2010-11 Public School Enrollment Demographics;…

A sample of 97 directors of public school standardized testing programs received mail surveys for the purpose of identifying the nature and extent of their training in educational measurement and evaluation, the number and types of State certifications held, the nature of their primary job assignment, and their job responsibilities associated with…

Over the past five years the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has used the results of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) to rate public school performance on the School Accountability Report (SAR). The public often considers the school ratings as indicative of the school's quality. There appears to be a lack of quantitative…

This paper offers facts and figures on Utah's education status for 2010. This paper contains the following: (1) Core CRT Language Arts Testing, 2009; (2) Core CRT Mathematics Testing, 2009; (3) 2009 Public Education General Fund--Funding by Source and Expenditures by Function; (4) 2009-10 Public School Enrollment Demographics; (5) Public Schools…

The Maryland Accountability Testing Program Annual Report is a reference document for the public that includes a survey of current test results and the progress being made by Maryland public school students in grades 3, 5, and 8. The California Achievement Tests are the standardized achievement tests used to provide the information required by…

One in a series of technical manuals describing the curricular and psychometric characteristics of tests administered by the State of North Carolina, this manual contains a description of the U.S. history test given to high school students. It is designed to facilitate the proper technical use of the test scores obtained from the administration of…

Statewide achievement testing programs in public schools are examined from a historical perspective over 150 years. Written tests, standardized tests, intelligence tests, and test batteries are considered. A survey of present programs demonstrates a wide variety that is attributable to the ad hoc origins of these programs. (SLD)

Surveys the legal challenges to teacher certification based on objective competency tests; analyzes the theories of the challenges; and discusses implementation of these tests with particular reference to the declining number of eligible minority candidates. Describes "custom designed" certification programs used by a few states. (MLF)

Under the federal law, students at all public schools are expected to become "proficient"--as defined by each state--by the end of 2013-14 school year. The law requires steady academic progress overall and by subgroups of students, such as poor and minority youngsters. The law dishes out increasingly tough consequences for Title I schools that…

The Learning Outcome Testing Program of the West Virginia Department of Education is designed to provide public school teachers/administrators with test questions matching learning outcomes. The approach, software selection, results of pilot tests with teachers in 13 sites, and development of test items for item banks are described. (SLD)