A new study has found that state requirements that students pass exit tests to graduate from high school appear to do nothing to improve achievement on federal reading and mathematics tests. The study, the results of which have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal "Educational Policy," compared the reading and math scores…

This small scale study investigated upper primary teachers' perceptions of the PSLE English oral assessment. It sought to find out the challenges that teachers faced in conducting PSLE English oral assessment and if the assessment format provides a good gauge of pupils' oral competence. Semi-structured interviews were the main research instruments…

The purpose of this study was to compare high schools in north Louisiana to determine if the presence or absence of instructional coaches influenced student achievement, organizational climate, and/or teacher efficacy in any significant manner. The 11 high schools in north Louisiana utilizing instructional coaches were matched to 11 high schools…

This study analyzed California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) intervention strategies that were implemented by successful urban superintendents in order to determine best practices that were being used across the state of California to increase the passing rate on that exam. Four research questions were analyzed: (1) what types of intervention…

Test score validity takes center stage in the debate over the use of high school exit exams. Scant literature addresses the amount of conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM) present in individual student results on high school exit exams. The purpose of this study is to fill a void in the literature and add a national review of the CSEM,…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

This paper presents new evidence on the effects of exit exam performance on high school persistence and completion as well as on college attendance using data on students from Florida. Specifically, they examine whether initial exit exam performance causes students to drop out of school, changes the likelihood of graduating from high school, and…

In 2005, Loris (SC) High School was ranked near the bottom of all high schools in South Carolina. The newly appointed principal, Trevor Strawderman, had been the school's assistant principal. He knew that literacy presented the biggest challenge at Loris: 74% of the students in 9th and 10th grade were reading below grade level. Because of the low…

This article reports on the findings of a recent study that examines one of the most enduring debates in science instruction--whether "depth" or "breadth" of knowledge is most important. Its authors come down on the side of depth. The study found that high school students who focus more intensely on core topics within their…

This white paper provides an overview of the issues that affect the quality and equity of education in grades K-16 for Latino students in the United States. This paper is organized chronologically to reflect the typical educational timeline for students in the United States, and we focused on several key transition points in the educational…

This article investigates several questions regarding the impact of different item formats on measurement characteristics. Constructed response (CR) items and multiple choice (MC) items obviously differ in their formats and in the resources needed to score them. As such, they have been the subject of considerable discussion regarding the impact of…

San Francisco's Bridge to Success (BtS) initiative brings together the City and County of San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), and key community organizations to promote postsecondary success for underrepresented students. Various working groups, each comprised of staff from…

This article describes briefly the education system of Cyprus and elaborates on the recent changes in its large-scale assessment (LSA) programme. Until 2005, two independent LSA programmes existed: one for school-graduation purposes and one for gaining entrance to higher education. The introduction of a dual-purpose LSA program in 2006, due to…

Mathematics education is a critical public policy issue in the U.S. and the pressures facing students and schools are compounded by increasing expectations for college attendance after high school. In this study, we examine whether policy efforts to constrain the high school curriculum in terms of course requirements and mandatory exit exams…

In this article we present results from a study investigating the impact of three state exit exam systems on teaching and learning in college-preparatory schools. The study compares one state with a traditionally more centralized exam regime, one state that is more de-centralized and one state that has recently switched to more centralized…