The Assessment of Skills for Successful Entry and Transfer (ASSET)--a student advisement and placement service published by American College Testing (ACT) of Iowa City, Iowa--is evaluated. Focus is on determining whether the ASSET is suitable for assessing the cognitive entry characteristics of students entering the College of General and…

Information about the Delaware Educational Assessment Program and the performance of Delaware public school students during 1986-87 as measured by a nationally-normed standardized achievement test are presented. The presentation is designed for use by the educational community and the general public. Program features include: (1) statewide…

The Delaware Educational Assessment Program is described, and results of the spring 1984 implementation of the program are presented. The program involves: (1) statewide standardized testing for grades 1 through 8 and 11 in reading, English, and mathematics; (2) supplemental testing in science and social studies for 11th graders; (3) calculation…

The twelfth annual report on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of Connecticut's college-bound seniors analyzes their characteristics, high school records, and college plans. This report is based upon the most recent responses of 28,302 1985-86. seniors who participated in the College Board's Admission Testing Program at any time during…

This report provides an analysis of the participation and performance of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in the 1996, 1997, and 1998 Basic Standards of Reading and Math tests given to all 8th grade students in Minnesota annually. There is very limited availability of data on the performance of LEP students on these tests because…

The impact of testing accommodation on the performance of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) was studied, focusing on the possibility of differential impact of accommodation strategies on subgroups formed based on students' background characteristics and the validity of assessments using accommodated versus nonaccommodated…

Focus groups were used to examine the needs of students taking a computer adaptive math assessment. The assessment designed using universal design and item response theory. Focus groups included teachers, administrators, child advocacy groups, and 3rd grade students and parents from the following groups: students with disabilities, students in…

States are engaged in serious efforts to raise student achievement, paying particular attention to narrowing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students that has persisted in public schools for decades. The achievement gap is particularly troubling because, all too often, those at low achievement levels are minority, special…

This report summarizes some AISD activities to support reading and mathematics instruction in grades K-5 for the 2004-2005 school year.

The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program was offered in 10 high schools and 6 middle schools during the 2005-2006 school year. AVID began in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in 1999 as a way of helping more students become eligible for college. Students who were considered academically "average," based on…

Presents a study of 87 second graders to demonstrate that achievement tests in primary mathematics emphasize pupil's lower-order thinking by comparing answers to interview questions from constructivist and traditionally instructed groups. Results indicated that constructivist instructed students demonstrated superior higher-order thinking on tasks…

Describes a study that provided innercity fourth grade African-American students in Texas with hardware to participate in a telecommunications network to determine whether participation would increase their scores on statewide fifth grade math tests. Time online, content of programs, connections between math and language arts, and student…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a well established tool for formative assessment. CBM has also been used for prediction of state test scores. However, validity coefficients between math-CBM and state tests have been moderate at best (Skiba, Magnusson, Martson, and Erickson, 1986; Martson, 1989; Putnam, 1989). The purpose of the present…

Universal design for assessment (UDA) is intended to increase participation of students with disabilities and English-language learners in general education assessments by addressing student needs through customized testing platforms. Computer-based testing provides an optimal format for creating individually-tailored tests. However, although a…

At the heart of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the call for all students to be "proficient" in reading and mathematics by 2014. Yet the law expects each state to define proficiency as it sees fit and design its own tests. This study investigated three research questions related to this policy: (1) How consistent are various…