The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of students in 14 Pascagoula schools and 9 Biloxi schools implementing School Renaissance (SR) to that of students in matched control schools. The achievement measures to be examined were from the 2004 administration of the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) for Reading, Language Arts, and…

This research brief uses data collected by the Center for Policy Research on the Impact of General and Special Education Reform to highlight issues surrounding the inclusion and exclusion of students with disabilities in state accountability systems. The brief discusses the background of standards-based reform, traditional general education…

The politics of education is driven by a complex interrelationship among politicians, private foundations, teachers' unions, special-interest groups, school administrators, boards of education, courts, and the "knowledge industry." Chapter 1 focuses on the major actors in the politics of education, and chapter 2 analyzes the…

The President and the Department of Education have advocated national testing, but they have not really justified their use. Most educators argue for the importance of multiple assessments, rather than a single test of achievement with great impact on the future of a student and an educational system. Misuses of test results would plague national…

In the 1970s and 1980s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) built a longitudinal record as the Nation's Report Card based on periodic brief assessments of a modest but representative sample of the nation's students. In 1990, data collection was expanded from a sample of 10,000 students in each grade and subject area to 100,000…

To find ways to improve rater reliability of a tape-mediated speaking test for Japanese university students of English as a Second Language, two studies gathered information on: how raters actually made their choices on rating sheets of students' speaking ability; determined what criteria teachers think they use and actually use in rating…

The effects of classroom assessment environment (CAE) variables on yearly achievement in mathematics and science in grades 7 through 12 were studied through the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), using cohorts of approximately 3,000 students each in the 7th and 10th grades who were followed for 4 years. While the LSAY did not include all…

Issues in alternative assessment for accountability purposes are discussed. Most new forms of performance assessment are linked in the literature, but all alternative forms of assessment do not have the same attributes in terms of technical and feasibility criteria. Tradeoffs in the validity of inferences that can be drawn from alternative…

The 1998-99 school year marked the 19th year of statewide student testing under the Arizona Student Achievement Program. In this school year, students were tested using the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (Stanford9). This test was administered to 593,872 Arizona students in grades 2 through 11 during the spring of 1999. Three subtests in…

This document presents, in tabular form, results for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations for grade 4, spring 2000 (the 1999-2000 school year). Results are presented for the state's total fourth grade population eligible to be tested and for each school district and school in Wisconsin. Test results are reported for reading, language…

This document presents, in tabular form, results for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations for grade 8, spring 2000 (the 1999-2000 school year). Results are presented for the state' s total eighth grade population eligible to be tested and for each school district and school in Wisconsin. Test results are reported for reading, language…

This document presents, in tabular form, results for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations for grade 10, spring 2000 (the 1999-2000 school year). Results are presented for the state's total tenth grade population eligible to be tested and for each school district and school in Wisconsin. Test results are reported for reading, language…

This report, printed in English and Spanish versions, is the first Nebraska State Report Card. It provides a snapshot of Nebraska schools using statewide averages. Nebraska students scored better than students nationwide in reading, with 60% of Nebraska students in grades 3-4, 7-8, and 10-12 scoring above the median on a standardized reading test.…

This is the 20th year of statewide student testing under the Arizona Student Achievement Program. To fulfill the requirements of the Arizona Revised Statutes, a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test in the subjects of reading, language arts, and mathematics was adopted and implemented in Arizona schools. For the 1999-2000 school…

Six issues of the newsletter of the General Educational Development Testing Service discuss developments of interest to users of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED) in the United States and Canada. The feature article of each issue is: (1) "Survey of Testing Centers Reveals Trends in Access to Technology"; (2)…