It is readily apparent that testing raises academic standards at both the state and the federal levels. The three Rs currently touted as aims for school improvement--rigor, relevance, and relationships--can be applied to testing as well. The connection between standardized testing and rigor can be easily made, while the relevance of testing is…

In this paper, the authors discuss the new academic eligibility policy for at-risk students of Cato-Meridian, a small rural school district in New York State. The traditional eligibility policy that was in place at Cato-Meridian and surrounding school districts required student athletes to pass all but two of their courses. If they failed two…

The Southeast Center for Teaching Quality and Georgia State University sent research teams into six southeastern and southern states to find out if the increased accountability policies are having positive or negative effects at the classroom level. The teams found strong support for standards-based reform and for state accountability systems.…

Beginning in 1990 with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI) program, science leaders at the state, district, and local levels increasingly have faced accountability issues. Today both private and public funding agencies recommend that proposed projects be based upon scientific research; that is, research…

Standardized assessment in school systems has been the center of debate for decades. Although the voices of opponents of standardized tests have dominated the public forum, only a handful of scholars and practitioners have argued in defense of standardized tests. This article provides a critical synthesis of the controversial issues on…

The "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" have evolved in the breadth and depth of coverage of issues in educational testing and measurement since their first publication in 1954. There were a number of substantive changes in the 1999 revision that addressed validity, fairness, accommodations, and compliance with the…

Today's school counselors are faced with demands to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of their counseling programs. Twenty-eight school counselors from a large Southwestern school district participated in a program evaluation training workshop designed to help them develop evaluation skills necessary for demonstrating program…

In this era of educational choice, school accountability, research-based practices, and commercial competition--illustrated by but not exclusive to No Child Left Behind--some schools, public and private, make claims that resemble false advertising and that some parents rely on, to their disappointment and even detriment. Moreover, the laudable…

Government-imposed testing has been introduced in Canada to establish benchmarks, improve accountability, and measure achievement consistently. In this study 133 teachers from urban and rural Manitoba completed surveys (a response rate of 34%) to ascertain their attitudes toward mandated testing. Results indicated that most teachers expressed…

To improve literacy achievement, the authors developed consensus scoring and peer planning as a process of professional development and school improvement. This process allows teachers to (1) gain an increased understanding of the content and performance standards that guide their instruction; (2) work together to assess student work; (3) work…

This article examines a conflict that arose in 2004 between a federal court's oversight of desegregation and the implementation of the public school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act in Pinellas County, Florida. School system leaders challenged the statute on the grounds that it would likely disrupt a controlled-choice plan…

The standards-based reform movement has led to increased emphasis on tests, coupled with rewards and sanctions, as the basis for accountability systems. These strategies have often had unintended consequences that undermine access to education for low-achieving students rather than enhancing it. This article argues that testing is information for…

This study examined the relationship between collective efficacy and high school student achievement in a state with an accountability system heavily focused on achievement, measured by mandatory assessments in multiple content areas. Using social cognitive theory, a theoretical model was developed linking school context and collective efficacy to…

This article examines a value-added model to rate schools, taking into account varying characteristics of students entering the schools, including poverty, race, mobility, and stability. The model uses regression to separate the influence of demographics that are outside the school's control from those under school control. This value-added model…

Because technology is more prevalent and accessible for use in assessment, this article highlights what counselors and educators need to know when considering the use of computers and the Internet for that purpose. The article concludes with some predictions on how technology might influence assessment and accountability in the future. This…