This article reports on why states are quitting the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). The two consortia sought to develop state-of-the-art assessments that focused on problem solving and the application of knowledge, and that moved away from former tests'…

A key aspect of the teaching and learning cycle involves checking the progress of student learning along the way. Traditionally, state summative assessments have served as a way to measure student mastery of the knowledge and skills outlined in the learning expectations or standards at the end of the academic year. As many states began adopting…

Results from new state tests in Kentucky--the first in the nation explicitly tied to the Common Core State Standards--show that the share of students scoring "proficient" or better in reading and math dropped by roughly a third or more in both elementary and middle school the first year the tests were given. Kentucky in 2010 was the…

Recently, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program used for North Carolina's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's Rausch Interval Unit (RIT) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish…

This report identifies the states with current or pending state-level end-of-course assessment (EOC) programs, the subjects in which EOCs are administered in the states, and the EOCs (if any) students must pass to graduate from high school. Twenty-two states currently administer one or more EOCs to all students in an EOC course. This number will…

Educators and policy makers in the United States have relied on tests to measure educational progress for more than 150 years, and have used the results for many purposes. They have tried minimum competency testing; portfolios; multiple-choice items, brief and extended constructed-response items; and more. They have contended with concerns about…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the impact of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). We used a survey of 401 teachers from three states to probe teacher perspectives across a wide range of topics. Our study found teacher perceptions were more universal than state specific. The…

Beginning with a reference to living in a time of both uncertainty and opportunity, this article presents a discussion of key areas where shared understanding is needed if we are to successfully realize the design and use of high quality, valid assessments of science. The key areas discussed are: (1) assessment purpose and use, (2) the nature of…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. The purpose of this report is to document the technical aspects of the 2013-14 NYSAA.…

This paper provides information about Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program. The purpose of the exam is to: (1) Determine prospective high school graduates' mastery of the state curriculum; (2) Provide data to state policymakers on student attainment of state education goals to inform education policy decisions; (2) Increase alignment of local…

Recent implementation of Nebraska's Standards-based Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) introduced a unique opportunity to examine the benefits and drawbacks of a teacher-led state assessment system. STARS is unique among state assessment systems in that statewide tests are replaced by locally developed assessments designed by…

This qualitative research project studied the efforts of a small public elementary school over the course of 1 academic year to meet higher standards imposed by the state. The state's department of education defined school success in terms of the percentage of students passing a set of multiple-choice, standardized tests in four core areas of the…

The Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) is designed to assess progress toward the Delaware Content Standards. Every year a certain number of items are removed from the test and then selected for public release. This booklet contains items released from the 2001 administration of the DSTP Science tests for grades 8 and 11. It contains examples…

This document contains the results of a standard setting conducted in January 2002 on the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) Science and Social Studies tests at grades 4 and 6. Each standard setting process entailed convening four groups, one for each grade level and content area, and each group met for 2 days. At the standard setting judges…

From the concern over the poor educational performance of school children nationwide has evolved the question of setting higher standards via testing. This paper focuses on the state's responsibility to require performance standards for children. Topics discussed include general issues related to the testing controversy, recent state efforts to…