Very few studies of variations in grouping students for instructional purposes have concerned themselves with the legal aspects of the practice of separating children into classes. The legal problems facing those who make decisions related to sorting children for purposes of instruction were considered. (Author/RK)

Article presented a true story of how two cities ran testing programs and the lessons that can be learned from their failures. (Editor/RK)

This journal issue contains an annotated bibliography of books, journal articles, research reports, monographs, ERDC documents and other items dealing with educational counseling and information services for adults in the United States and Canada. Most items cited were published in the 1960s and 1970s. (Author/RM)

Challenge to Lead calls for every student to earn a high school diploma that prepares him or her for college and a career. One indicator of progress toward this goal is the success rate on high school graduation tests required by states. Comparisons of Southern Regional Education Board, SREB, state policies, however, show that high school tests…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has focused attention on improving the academic achievement of all students, including more than 6 million students with disabilities and requires that all students be assessed. Students with disabilities may be included through accommodations, such as extended time, or alternate assessments, such as teacher…

The requirements of the revised Elementary and Secondary School Act for annual assessment of student progress highlight problems in using tests in a stringent manner to assess students and teachers. Issues such as validity, reliability, and time spent on test preparation must be considered. Some tests are used for prediction of future performance,…

This report describes the Body of Evidence approach taken in Wyoming to implement standards-based graduation. The Body of Evidence plan calls for more than a single test to justify issuing a high school diploma. Graduation requirement rules, known as Chapter 31 rules, establish the requirements for a diploma. The body of evidence is to be…

This document is designed to show the connection between the required state-written curriculum (courses of study) and the state-tested curriculum (the Alabama High School Graduation Examination and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition [Stanford 9]) in Social Studies. The document illustrates that courses of study content standards embody…

This summary provides key findings about state, district, and school level performance on the TerraNova examinations (CTB/McGraw Hill) in Nevada in 1998-1999. The TerraNova tests are used to assess students in grades 4, 8, and 10 as stipulated by Nevada law. Within this summary, a description of performance as measured by national percentile…

In England and Wales, a National Curriculum initiated in 1988 was designed to ensure that all schools provided a curriculum which represented different areas of knowledge. The past 20 years has increasingly seen more emphasis on the link between the financial amounts spent on education and subsequent return on this money. The impact of the…

Missouri is in the middle of the process of developing a performance-based assessment system, the Missouri Assessment Program, which is being developed to measure student progress toward the "Show-Me Standards" adopted by the State Board of Education in 1996. To achieve these standards, students must have a strong foundation of knowledge…

This briefing packet contains data on the school and district accountability results for Kentucky's state assessment system, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System, for 1994-1995 through its last use in 1997-1998. The first section contains state and regional accountability indices by grade level, with number of students tested and…

This booklet contains released test items from the spring 2000 administration of the eighth grade mathematics and science tests of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Items are released with the correct answers, and the scoring guide is included for selections from the constructed response portion of the science test. (SLD)

This book describes how educators at Harrison Elementary School in Twin Falls, Idaho, used the Standardized Timed Curriculum (STC) to raise students' standardized test scores. The monograph, which is divided into eight chapters, opens with an overview of testing in schools, the growth of the test-preparation business, and the need for school…

This guide provides information about the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and Texas end-of-course examinations. It displays and explains examples of the TAAS and end-of-course standard and optional reports to assist school personnel in understanding and interpreting student performance data as required by the Texas Education Code. The…