Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) assessments are criterion-referenced performance tests designed, developed, and implemented by the Maryland State Department of Education in collaboration with classroom teachers and other Maryland educators. MSPAP is the major strategy for implementing Maryland's educational reform…

Summative evaluation of student achievement in reading emphasizes determining learner progress at the end of a unit of study, end of course, or end of the school year. Generally, state mandated tests stress an end of the school year percentile which is to indicate the present state of learner achievement. This paper discusses and analyzes…

This booklet describes the Post-Secondary Child Care Grant Program in Minnesota and provides suggestions in evaluating child care options. The Minnesota Higher Education Services Office administers the program. It allocates funds to eligible colleges, which then select and make awards to students. A resident of Minnesota with a child of 12 years…

This report is a compilation of educational policy items from all 50 states, where applicable. The report is organized into 25 sections: Accountability (K-12); Assessment; At Risk; Attendance; Bilingual/ESL; Character/Citizenship Education; Charter Schools; Choice; Dual/Concurrent Enrollment; Early Childhood; Finance; Financial Aid; Governance…

This report provides a comprehensive account of the performance of students with disabilities on state assessment measures. Following an overview of the issues, it explains the laws that govern the reporting of assessment results (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA) and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary…

This document presents a profile of the development of Alaska kindergarten and first grade students in fall 2001. Alaska teachers completed reports for 13,688 kindergarten and first grade students at that time. Most were found to exhibit important behaviors associated with school successes on the Alaska Developmental Profile Recording Form.…

This report summarizes survey data collected from responding Departments of Education in all 50 states concerning the planning and financing of public school facility design and construction. The survey was conducted as part of a study for the New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Equity Task Force. It does not attempt to address every possible…

As part of a series of reports designed to support the implementation of Proposition 10: The California Children and Families Act and to provide comprehensive and authoritative information on critical issues concerning young children and families in California, this report provides county-level commissioners and their staff with information about…

This statement outlines reasons why a student identifier linked to students STAR test scores and demographic data would offer the opportunity to improve the quality of information California uses to evaluate both schools and programs and would facilitate better service provision to students. The primary benefit of a statewide student identified…

The experience of Maryland in implementing large scale assessment in the context of school reform is explored. The ways in which the state Department of Education has worked with divergent groups to build a continuing and strong school reform program are discussed. In 1987 Maryland's governor created a Commission on School Performance. This was…

This booklet describes the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Program, known as the Texas Tomorrow Fund. The fund allows parents or others wishing to finance a child's education to prepay tuition and required fees as a condition of enrollment for 1 to 4 years of education at Texas colleges and universities. It can also give a student a big…

This report summarizes some of the recent reports on school building needs and describes the initiatives in New York State's budget designed to address them. It also describes the environment in which school building and maintenance decisions are made, with particular attention to factors discouraging or impeding successful strategies for school…

The Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) were developed as a result of the state's Excellence in Education Act of 1985, which called for assessments of core competencies and key skills in reading/language arts/English, mathematics, science, and social studies/civics. The revised MMAT, like the original test, includes four multiple-choice…

L. Cronbach has made the point that for validity arguments to be convincing to diverse audiences, they need to be based on assumptions that are credible to these audiences. The interpretations and uses of high stakes test scores rely on a number of policy assumptions about what should be taught in schools, and more specifically, about the content…

This document discusses a project undertaken as a way to accurately identify, develop prevention strategies for, and treat the underlying causes of some 20 "symptoms" experienced in the communities of Louisiana. The information presented provides a means for diminishing the associated human and financial costs of these symptoms. The…