The accountability testing programs of many states have begun to make extensive use of constructed-response questions and to report test results in terms of percentages of students at various proficiency or performance levels. This paper describes the step-by-step procedures for two standard-setting methods recently used for the New Hampshire…

Whatever the cause of present-day problems in American education, there is little doubt that proposals for national curricula and examinations are a response to widely-held perceptions of serious problems in the schools. Although national examinations have been proposed, there has been little consideration of their purposes and structures. The…

The attractiveness of some European education policies and the current push toward national standards of academic achievement have converged recently in proposals for national educational testing in the United States. This paper examines the origins and status of student examination policies in 12 countries of the European Community. A major…

The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) is a relatively new, statewide performance assessment of students in grades 3, 5, and 8. When first administered in May of 1991, the MSPAP included a battery of performance assessment tasks designed to generate written or drawn responses to reading texts. This study evaluated selected…

Educational refinement is defined as attempts to improve education through incremental improvements in the existing structure, while educational reform refers to change in the structure itself. A strong move is underway to reform education in the United States. It is argued that the development of assessments in support of educational reform…

This report presents Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) performance results and results on the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) in October 1990. This volume is comprised of the following sections: (1) Section I, an executive summary of TAAS performance for each grade level; (2) Section II, an overview of the program…

Reports on the student assessment systems of states participating in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory are presented. These reports were developed from the database of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Detailed information about each state's student assessment program…

Authentic reading assessment is examined, focusing on its implementation within the Michigan Essential Skills Reading Test (MESRT). Authentic reading assessment emerged as a response to research that indicates that reading is not a particular skill but an interaction among reader, text, and the context of the reading situation. Unlike formal…

This issue of a quarterly newsletter focuses on alternative assessment methods in adult basic education. It is occasioned, as explained in the opening editorial, by the announcement of the requirement for use of the 1987 edition of the Tests of Adult Basic Education for pre- and posttesting of basic education students in New York City, beginning…

The curriculum content of elementary and secondary school social studies is discussed as it relates to the assessment of social studies learning. In addition, recommendations are made for future efforts in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The social studies curriculum involves both factual learning and concept learning.…

The Grade 12 Diploma Examination Program, an integral part of high school diploma requirements, is intended to develop and maintain excellence in educational standards through certification of academic achievement. It consists of course-specific examinations that are based on the prescribed Program of Studies for Senior High Schools for the…

This review is intended to assist guidance counselors, vocational and special education teachers, administrators, researchers, and vocational education evaluators in making decisions about implementing or improving vocational assessment programs. In the introduction, the legislative mandate for and history of vocational assessment of special…

This second annual report on student achievement in Illinois describes and synthesizes the results of four different achievement measures: the Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP), High School and Beyond Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the American College Test. This report provides an analysis of student progress across years,…

This report deals with ways to report basic skills test data which would facilitate the identification of student weaknesses. Under study are the technical aspects and methods associated with the reporting of objective-referenced data. An exploration is then made into the use of patterns of errors in responding to basic skills test items to…

When the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) was mandated in Florida, a schedule of incremental increases in the required passing scores was legislated. The 1986 passing standards were scheduled to be increased in 1989. This change was projected to reduce by half the number of students admitted to upper-level status at Florida's colleges. A…