As a condition of receiving federal funds, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires state education agencies to implement statewide assessments in mathematics and English language arts every year in third through eighth grade and once in ninth through 12th grade. The federal law also requires a science assessment once in each of three grade spans:…

Summative assessments measure students' mastery of grade-level academic standards and skills in specific content areas after learning. State summative assessment systems provide students and families, school and district leaders, and state policymakers with valuable data to help understand student progress and school quality. This Policy Guide…

As a condition of receiving federal funds, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires state education agencies to implement statewide assessments in mathematics and English language arts every year in third through eighth grade and once in ninth through 12th grade. The federal law also requires a science assessment once in each of three grade spans:…

This article reports on the collaboration of six states to study how simulation-based science assessments can become transformative components of multi-level, balanced state science assessment systems. The project studied the psychometric quality, feasibility, and utility of simulation-based science assessments designed to serve formative purposes…

There is much debate over the impact of high stakes testing as well as a growing body of research focused on both the intended and unintended consequences of these tests. One claim of both the popular media and education researchers is that high stakes tests have led to curricular narrowing--the idea that school time is increasingly allocated to…

This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

This document contains parts of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). Rubrics and released items are provided for four levels and areas of the test including high school, grade 5, grade 8, and graphing items. (CCM)

This report contains the results from the first administration of the fourth and sixth grade science and social studies portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). As such, they are an important part of the state's efforts to educate all students to a higher level. Science and social studies data for grades 4 and 6 are summarized…

This booklet contains released test items from the spring 2000 administration of the eighth grade mathematics and science tests of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Items are released with the correct answers, and the scoring guide is included for selections from the constructed response portion of the science test. (SLD)

This report contains summaries of the results from the third administration of the fourth and sixth grade science and social studies portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). These results are part of a long-term effort to gather data on the educational progress of Delaware students and to use the data to inform decisions about…

With the administration of the 2002 Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP), a questionnaire was given to students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 about Opportunity to Learn, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, and to all students in grades 4, 6, 8, and 11 about Opportunity to Learn, Science, and Social Studies. Students responses to the questions were…

An analytic framework is presented for examining the properties and objectives of assessments and scoring systems piloted in a number of state and district testing programs. The article explores the application of this framework, which considers the cognitive components of competence described in studies of expertise, to the analysis of science…

The 1972 assessment activities in the Massachusetts schools concentrated on the areas of citizenship and science, utilizing two seventh grade samples of 10,000 students each, with each group completing only one assessment form. The testing program utilized National Assessment Items for age 13, as well as a few items from the Measurement Research…

Provides hypothesized explanations for local item dependence (LID) in a large-scale hands-on science performance assessment involving approximately 55,000 students each at grades 3, 5, and 8. Items that appear to elicit locally dependent responses require examinees to answer and explain their answers or to use given or generalized information to…

The 4th Grade Test (1984) of the Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress includes 18 reading items, 27 geometry items, 31 science items, a 27-item student questionnaire regarding science opinions, and 40 mathematics items. The test booklet only is included here. (PN)