The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Writing Assessment measured student writing performance at the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades. Scoring guides for three different writing purposes for each grade allowed scorers to objectively evaluate students' work. This issue of NAEPfacts includes an 8th-grade informative writing scoring…

The Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico-Rural Systemic Initiative (UCAN-RSI) supports standards-based reform in mathematics, technology, and science education for rural students in its states. This guide provides UCAN schools and communities with a set of measures that describe the location of a school/community on the developmental continuum of…

This guide to assessment of learning based on the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) stresses the use of rubrics or guidelines that establish criteria and indicators of success. Part 1 examines the theory of evaluation and rubrics in three sections that address: current evaluation methods and their biases; effective evaluation methods and their…

Establishing statewide standards that define what a Minnesota public high school graduate should know and be able to do to function effectively as a purposeful thinker, effective communicator, self-directed learner, productive group participant, and responsible citizen, this legislation outlines the graduation standards in Written Composition that…

This handbook presents an overview of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and a description of the Writing Assessment. Districts are encouraged to use the procedures and methods described to create prompts and score writing samples as part of their district-level assessment program. After an introduction and overview of the Pennsylvania…

Most of the activities presented in this packet are appropriate for students in grade 4 through high school. To make the activity more challenging and to meet the needs of older students, the teacher may wish to add detail and written work to complement the assignment's creative aspects. These activities are adapted easily to content areas, and in…

The booklet contains samples from the Missouri social studies test for eleventh graders. The first sample asks students to use their own knowledge and the information gleaned from two illustrations that are focused on U.S. history. The second samples, based on a drawing of a map of 1914 East Asia, asks students to use their knowledge and the map…

This paper examines the efforts of the Anchorage School District, Alaska, to improve the validity of its writing assessment as a useful tool for the training of teachers and the characterization of the quality of student writing. The paper examines how a number of changes in the process and scoring of the Anchorage Writing Assessment affected the…

This paper describes the feedback included in operational achievement level setting (ALS) procedures for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It does not describe the feedback form field trials, pilot studies, or other research studies related to the NAEP. The NAEP ALS process includes three rounds of item-by-item ratings, and…

This paper describes the design and process of an outcomes assessment tool created and modified over the past 10 years by the English department at the College of Southern Idaho. Initiated by the State Board of Education and executed by the department, this process is effective in its objectives: first to inform students of their competence to…

This study examined the generalizability and dependability of a performance-based assessment in algebra. Four forms of a five-item test were constructed using different subsets of eight items based on attributes from task analysis. Subjects included 142 "algebra 2" students from 2 high schools in the Midwestern United States and 148 11th…

In response to a need for curricular support, the Idaho State Department of Education gathered teams of exemplary educators from throughout the state to write courses of study related to all subject areas within Idaho's Achievement Standards. A need arose to assess areas not tested statewide in a performance-based manner. Teachers involved in…

The purpose of this document is to explore the world of assessment within the context of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The definitions provided will help those with little knowledge of as-sessment to understand the essentials of practice and theory. The information is meant for assess-ment users so they can interpret the purpose of tests…

Findings of this study suggest that it is preferable to attempt to control guessing through the use of the reward instruction rather than to attempt to control it using the penalty instruction or to encourage it using the insttruction to guess. (Authors/MB)

A comprehensive review of test practices and recommendations for setting up a district testing program that will meet informational needs. (Editor)