Great things happen when students are able to focus on their learning instead of their scores. However, assessment reform, including standards-based grading, remains a hotly debated issue in education. "Going Gradeless" shows that it is possible to teach and assess without the stress of traditional grading practices. Sharing their…

This is an abridged version of the full assessment framework, written for a general audience. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as The Nation's Report Card, informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of…

We present a new system for automated scoring of graph construction items that address complex science concepts, feature qualitative prompts, and support a range of possible solutions. This system utilizes analysis of spatial features (e.g., slope of a line) to evaluate potential student ideas represented within graphs. Student ideas are then…

Noncognitive characteristics are gaining importance in addressing the persistent challenges facing youth in diverse settings. Measurement invariance of two youth developmental assets, Support and Positive Identity, is evaluated across grade levels and English language learner (ELL) subgroups of Latino students in 6th through 12th grade.…

Research on factors that may promote engagement is hampered by the absence of a measure of classroom-level engagement. Literature has suggested that engagement may have 3 dimensions--affective, behavioral, and cognitive. No existing engagement scales measure all 3 dimensions at the classroom level. The Classroom Engagement Inventory (CEI) was…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and its reports are a key measure in informing the nation on how well the goal of scientific literacy for all students is being met. The "Science Framework for the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress" sets forth the design of the NAEP Science Assessment. This document is…

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education awarded eight Striving Readers grants to projects around the country. The goal of Striving Readers is to improve literacy skills and achievement for struggling readers in middle and high school and to increase the research base using randomized clinical research to address improvement in adolescent…

Purpose is an internal compass that integrates engagement in activities that affect others, self-awareness of one's reasons, and the intention to continue these activities. We argue that purpose represents giftedness in intrapersonal intelligence, which processes information related to self, identity, self-regulation, and one's place in the world.…

This study explored the relationships among the components of the Arizona Department of Education's new teacher evaluation model, with a particular focus on the extent to which ratings from the state model's teacher observation instrument differentiated higher and lower performance. The study used teacher-level evaluation data collected by the…