Testing and data integrity on statewide assessments is defined as the establishment of a comprehensive set of policies and procedures for: (1) the proper preparation of students; (2) the management and administration of the test(s) that will lead to accurate and appropriate reporting of assessment results; and (3) maintaining the security of…

The New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) testing program is the result of 1976 legislation. The major purpose, aside from establishing a uniform standard of pupil proficiency, has been to provide local districts information on individual pupil proficiency and identify program strengths and weaknesses. To better meet the needs of local districts,…

This brief makes the case for thoughtful district- or school-driven assessment systems that complement and go beyond what statewide testing systems are able to accomplish. It describes important attributes of model local assessment programs and presents the necessary steps for building a local assessment program that will elicit information that…

The New York State School Report Card is an important part of the effort to raise learning standards for all students. It is designed to provide information to the public on student performance and other measures of school and district performance. The 2000 report card has been changed to focus on measures of student progress on the new standards.…

Four articles on computer-assisted testing in schools at local and state levels are reviewed. Trends in the application of and limitations/advantages of microcomputerized testing packages are described. (SLD)

Staff of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) have developed procedures for helping school district and building staffs use and report assessment results. There are procedures for using results at the district level, school building level and classroom level included in the appendix. This model is applicable to other state programs…

In situations where there are enormous pressures to produce "good" test results, standardized testing can be a very painful experience, but there are ways of using test data to help in the educational process. California assessment data are disseminated widely to school districts in meaningful diagnostic displays. (Author/CM)

Proposed an accountably model that addresses the challenges of allowing school districts to choose the specific strategies they use to measure student performance and evaluated this model using data from multiple sources for all school districts in Florida. Findings identify three strategies that would be useful for this type of accountability…

The goal of this paper, and the symposium it represents, is to provide an examination of the perspectives of district personnel from four diverse states. The papers present the current status of legislated student assessment programs in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois. Similarities and differences in implementation methodology are…

Trends in performance assessments across the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois were explored through the development, administration, and analysis of an interstate survey. These four states were selected to represent the diversity of state-mandated testing programs relative to emphasis placed on performance assessment.…

Five articles in this special issue present the approaches to accountability found in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland, provinces that represent 85% of all Canadian elementary and secondary school students. The articles are then discussed by representatives of four national Canadian educational associations. (SLD)

Results are presented from a study of portfolio use for large-scale assessment in the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) public schools that are more encouraging for the use of this form of assessment than many other studies have been. Requirements for the psychometric integrity of portfolio assessment are discussed. (SLD)

This is the sixth in a series of six monographs developed to help local educators use and report Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test results. Because the media help shape public opinion, educators need to carefully plan a comprehensive reporting campaign which quickly and accurately gets information on MEAP test results to media…

Getting assessment results used is no easy task. This paper examines the findings of a recent study on the uses of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and suggests implications for increasing use of state and local assessment results. The NAEP study, conducted at Northwestern University, generated evidence that assessment results…

This report presents detailed information about the student assessment results of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Included among the data is information on student achievement by gender, ethnicity or race, disability, and accommodation categories. In addition, achievement data are presented for each school district and for schools…