This document addresses the retention of second language students at Miami-Dade Community College in October 2002. Overall, retention of second language students has improved since the previous year. It should be noted that despite the increase in retention, fewer students are passing all of their lower level EAP courses. The report contains…

This report describes research on current assessment procedures affecting educational instruction. The targeted population consisted of third and fifth grade students, teachers, administrators, local school board members, and parents from one highly populated metropolitan public elementary school and a small suburban public elementary school near…

This critique of standardized tests begins by placing the use of such tests within a social context. It then addresses the matter of standardized testing in theory and practice in relation to teaching. The substance of standardized examinations, their common content, and the things they do not test are also explored. The relationship of good…

This essay, written for mathematics educators, addresses a series of questions related to the development of curriculum in mathematics education. The case is made that mathematics curriculum must be evaluated continuously to stay abreast of recent research results and needed trends. Also addressed is the question of how much mathematics…

This report presents findings of an analysis of state policies on student participation in assessments and accommodations for 2001. Major findings include: (1) participation options beyond the usual three (participation without accommodations, participation with accommodations, alternate assessment) have become more evident and include partial…

In a three-year study, RAND researchers examined the relationship between reform-oriented instruction and student performance in mathematics and science. At the end of the study, students who had been exposed to more reform-oriented teaching performed better in both math and science than those who had experienced less, but the differences in…

Educational assessment is a process of collecting evidence and interpreting it to provide instructors with information regarding students' learning. However, the current design and scoring of most standardized educational tests are insufficient to serve this purpose. The limitation exists primarily due to the lack of cognitive information…

Large-scale testing programs are generally based on the assumptions that the test-takers experience standard conditions for taking the test and that everyone will do his or her own work without having prior knowledge of specific questions. These assumptions are not necessarily true. The ways students and educators use to get around standardizing…

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…

This video presentation (28 minutes, in color) examines roadblocks to Latino academic advancement as well as productive educational models; explores the relationship of standardized testing and cultural diversity and questions whether cultural bias can be eliminated from standardized testing; and looks at early childhood education programs and the…

The goal of this research was to determine if standardized science test scores in Tennessee show evidence of continuous improvement in student achievement. The data examined as part of this study display evidence of a performance dip in Grade 4 but show an overall increase in scores across grade levels. A discussion of Tennessee's value added…

A new assessment conception is described that integrates constructed-response testing, artificial intelligence, and model-based measurement. The conception incorporates complex constructed-response items for their potential to increase the validity, instructional utility, and credibility of standardized tests. Artificial intelligence methods are…

In March of 1999, the Professional Development Laboratory (PDL) of the New York University School of Education conducted an Evaluation Forum to address the issue of evaluating professional development. The Forum engaged PDL stakeholders, educational leaders, and community supporters in generating and responding to critical questions related to…

High-stakes testing is one of the hottest topics in education today. Although most states use some form of testing, fewer than half administer tests linked to state education standards and goals, often called criterion referenced tests. Fewer still use statewide tests with high stakes for both the students enrolled in the public schools and the…

This document contains a description of the Georgia High School Graduation Test in English Language Arts. The test item specifications, reflecting the Georgia State Quality Core Curriculum, are used by writers and reviewers who are responsible for the development of test items. Much of the content in the description is based on earlier test…