Results from the component tests of the New Mexico Statewide Articulated Assessment System, an elementary-level assessment, are presented. The New Mexico Achievement Assessment, uses the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills to assess the achievement of students in grades 3, 5 and 8. Score increases were seen for students in grade 3 in mathematics, in grade…

The progress states have made toward fulfilling their requirements under Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act is reported. Some states are reporting that they have developed content standards for some subjects, but not for others. In some states, both local school district and state standards are being developed. In all, 43 states had…

Four essays and associated introductory text constituting the proceedings of a symposium on statewide testing in Texas are presented. The papers include: (1) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Historical Perspective" (Glynn Ligon); (2) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Local School District Perspectives" (Whit Johnstone and others); (3)…

The South Carolina Trade Examinations for trade and industrial education teachers are administered semiannually by the Office of Vocational Education. This handbook is designed to provide prospective trade and industrial education teachers, vocational administrators, State Department of Education personnel, and other interested parties with…

The Arizona Tax Research Association analyzed the Arizona Teacher Proficiency Examination (ATPE). An item analysis of the 150 questions administered to 2,430 applicants from July 1982 through March 1983 was undertaken. A minimum point biserial correlation coefficient of .33 indicated the validity of an item. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the…

In 1979-80, the Arkansas minimum competency tests were administered to a sample of 5,000 students in grades 3, 6, and 8. To determine how well test objectives matched the curriculum, their teachers estimated how many of the four items per objective a randomly selected student would answer correctly. Because chi square test comparisons of teacher…

All New Jersey students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 11 are tested annually in basic reading and computation skills using the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) Tests. The MBS testing program was initiated in 1976. The former Educational Assessment Program tests were used during the tramsition, and test development activities were begun in 1977.…

The testing of every fourth-grade classroom in Massachusetts was carried out in an effort to answer the following questions: (1) What are the levels of mastery of basic skills in Massachusetts fourth grades? Are there differences in achievement between skills?; (2) What educational needs can be inferred for Massachusetts' students, based on basic…

The politics of assessment in New Jersey are examined in this study. Two basic questions addressed are: (1) what roles did competing interest groups play in the development and utilization of statewide assessment? and (2) has the controversy over the Educational Assessment Program (EAP) changed the impact of any of these groups on the future…

Describes the development and testing of the North Carolina minimal competency testing program. (IRT)

State directors of teacher certification and testing provided updated data (reports, press clippings, manuals, legislative hearings, and validity studies) in April 1987 describing their testing programs and the latest passing rates. Twenty-seven states have admissions testing programs, and 44 have certification testing programs. It is unclear…

In 1998, the Kentucky legislature made adjustments to the assessment and accountability system established by the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 to create a new system, the Commonwealth Accountability and Testing System (CATS). The Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) are a component of CATS. KCCT assessments are given in grades 4, 5, 7, 8,…

This document comments on the future of educational testing in the United States and the plans of the Bush administration for increased use of testing for educational accountability. The "achievement gap" does not appear to be closing. One of the keys to closing the gap is having the data to understand it so that teachers can use test…

When the drive to develop and administer tests comes from a public call for accountability in a profession, from the government's response to this call, or from politicians attempting to identify a hot issue, it may be said that the test must first have political validity in order to be implemented. Only after this political validity has been…

This document describes the North Carolina Open-Ended Assessment for grades 4 and 8 and presents results for the 2000-2001 administration. The assessment emphasizes higher level thinking skills and requires students to apply or demonstrate skills and knowledge beyond the recall level on challenging subject matter. The open-ended assessments were…