This paper is the fourth in a series prepared for the National Academy of Education on the evaluation of the National Assessment of Educational Progress Trial State Assessment (TSA) and the impact of reporting TSA results. This paper provides a perspective on the last of the TSAs, an assessment of fourth-grade reading that was carried out in 44…

This book is designed to help K-12 teachers and administrators understand the nature of standardized tests and, in particular, the scores that result from them. This useful manual helps teachers develop the skills necessary to incorporate these test scores into various types of instructional decision making--a process known as "data-driven…

Year-long case studies of instructional practices in elementary school mathematics were analyzed to describe testing practices of seven teachers in three school districts in Michigan and the uses those teachers made of test results. Focused on were: (1) curriculum-embedded tests (in particular the Management By Objectives system); (2) the use of…

This guidebook shows how school district personnel from many areas--curriculum, instruction, supervision, staff development--can coordinate their activities to focus on instructional improvement. It reveals how data derived from tests, when properly used, can be useful in helping district personnel work with school and community people to assess…

Dissertations are an important component of the effort to generate knowledge. Thus, dissertation quality may be seen by accreditation and coordinating-board reviewers as a noteworthy reflection on the quality of doctoral programs themselves. The present study reviews methodological errors within Ph.D. dissertations. The illustrative errors are…