The Nation's Report Card, formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), has been informing the United States about the state of learning since its first survey was conducted in 1969. This report describes how this project, mandated by Congress and funded by the Department of Education, has evolved. It describes the…

The assessment of interests through the use of interest inventories is big business in the field of testing today. The assessment of interests originally developed as an outgrowth of efforts in education and in industry to supplement special and general abilities information about individuals. Interest inventories used today differ from early…

Drawing from a review of the literature and direct experience, this paper discusses key issues in developmental mathematics placement. First, the controversial practice of mandatory placement is examined, citing research results that support the practice and those that do not. Next, the diversity of developmental math placement standards is…

Trends in performance assessments across the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois were explored through the development, administration, and analysis of an interstate survey. These four states were selected to represent the diversity of state-mandated testing programs relative to emphasis placed on performance assessment.…

This collection contains four papers that were presented as part of a short course delivered at the 1991 annual meeting of the Speech Communication Association. The papers discuss various aspects of the development and use of "The Competent Speaker," a public speaking assessment instrument designed for the college sophomore level. The papers and…

Implications of the educational reform movement's emphasis on testing and assessment are considered as they touch on at-risk students. The four dimensions that must be considered in addressing the assessment of at-risk student populations are (1) antecedent instructional conditions; (2) type of test or assessment; (3) social and educational…

A problem exists in the lack of assessment coordination between monolingual psychologists and bilingual psychologists when working with language minority children referred for evaluation of special needs. This practicum was designed to improve the psychological assessment coordination between monolingual English psychologists and the bilingual…

This study illustrates the use of three least-squares models to control for rater effects in performance evaluation: (1) ordinary least squares (OLS); (2) weighted least squares (WLS); and (3) OLS subsequent to applying a logistic transformation to observed ratings (LOG-OLS). The three models were applied to ratings obtained from four…

The purpose of this Mississippi study was to determine if there was a correlation significantly different from zero between test scores, level of accreditation (Level 1--the 17 highest-scoring public school districts in the study, or Level 2--the 18 lowest-scoring), district expenditure per pupil, district size, and eligibility of students for…

It is believed that if primary grade children are exposed to the fundamentals of economics, they will be better able to comprehend and apply the principles in later years. This paper describes an inservice economics education training institute for elementary school teachers that integrates the following strategies: (1) an experienced-based…

This brief paper summarizes a roundtable discussion on the relative lack of use by special education researchers of a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Discussion addressed: (1) the types of knowledge that could be generated by using a wider range of research methods (e.g., structural equation modeling and associated methods…

In 1986 the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation directing the Legislative Research Commission to appoint a special subcommittee, the Special Subcommittee on Essential Skills Testing, to study the Kentucky Essential Skills Testing Program (KEST) and to make recommendations concerning the program. This report presents the findings and…

This paper describes what teachers need to know about performance assessment to do it well. First, they should know what performance assessment is and why anyone should care. One thing that has to be emphasized is that there are two parts to a performance assessment: the tasks and the criteria. Teachers tend to be better at developing rich and…

In May, 1991, the North Carolina State Board of Education, as part of the Quality Assurance Program, established a computer proficiency requirement for graduation that was then modified in 1995 and made effective beginning with the graduating class of 2001. Students who were in the eighth grade during the 1996-97 school year and thereafter must…

This publication provides a reference for educators and others interested in conducting comparative studies relative to North Carolina tests. It includes norms, tables, and other statistical information for all state-developed tests (state-mandated and local-option tests for which baseline data are available) that were administered during the…