The focus of second language education is communication, and oral language is central to the teaching of foreign language at all levels. Oral language in the foreign language classroom is the most problematic of all skills to assess. Teachers' concerns can be divided in the following areas: (1) What to assess: form or content; (2) How to assess:…

This guide is designed to give the student helpful information about Arizona's Instrument To Measure the Standards (AIMS) for grade 8. The guide provides examples of the type of questions students see on AIMS and explains how items are scored. It does not teach what the student needs to know to do well on AIMS, but it will help the student know…

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…

This paper discusses federal requirements for addressing general education curriculum standards and student participation in educational assessments in the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of students with disabilities. Specific regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are cited, and the following recommendations are…

This report contains the results from the first administration of the 8th and 11th grade science and social studies portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). As such, they are an important part of the state's efforts to educate all students to a higher level. Science and social studies data for grades 8 and 11 are summarized here;…

The Bookmark Standard Setting Procedure (Lewis, Mitzel, and Green, 1996) is an item-response-theory-based standard setting method that has been widely implemented by state testing programs. The primary purposes of this study were to: (1) estimate standard errors for cutscores that result from Bookmark standard settings under a generalizability…

The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) offers a relatively new way to measure achievement in schools. Six content areas are tested in grades 3 and 5. The use of the MSPAP to differentiate among schools in terms of success was studied using data for the 775 Maryland elementary schools that were active in 1995. Test results for…

This paper uses data collected from the 50 states in year 2000 by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) to describe how states are holding schools accountable for student performance. The data collection process focused on policies in place during the 1999-2000 school year. Profiles prepared from this data represent the policy…

The Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB) measures student readiness to begin first grade. It is the assessment used by South Carolina to measure the readiness of each student and to plan an appropriate program for each child. In fall 1998, 81.2% of the first graders (43,568 of 53,640 students) met the readiness standard for South Carolina (a…

This collection of graphs and tables of information from various survey sources shows the opinions of parents, teachers, and students about current educational issues. Graphs show that parents think improving schools is top priority, and they support higher standards. Parents see many benefits to student testing, and the majority does not think…

The first issue of the Educational Policy Reform Research Institute's (EPRRI)publication, "Policy Updates," introduces the Institute and briefly reports on three key elements of accountability. It notes that EPRRI investigates the impact of educational accountability on students with disabilities and on special education. The Institute…

This report outlines the program structures and faculty/staff roles of a developmental learning community (LC) initiative at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor Campus (Florida). The program consists of educational structures that link existing developmental courses and curriculum materials to a central theme: the importance of technology…

This brief paper reports on a study of the practices at four high schools selected for how closely they aligned with criteria and indicators illustrative of authentic and inclusive learning for all students. A table presents profiles of the four schools in terms of setting, students, and practices. Classroom observations, interviews, surveys, and…

One of the critical components in the curriculum is evaluation of students' knowledge or the amount they learned in the course. Over time, the assessment process has not changed significantly; it is only recently that university instructors are turning to technology for assistance in this labor-intensive task. There are disadvantages and…

A survey was conducted of 55 regular classroom teachers who referred students to special education in three Connecticut school systems to determine their predictions of the results of psycho-educational assessment and their perceptions of the instructional relevance of standardized psychological and educational test results. The findings of this…