The Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research (BEAR) Center at the University of California is developing assessments that are as psychometrically sound as standardized tests and as instructionally relevant as teacher-made, classroom assessments. The BEAR system employs four principles similar to those outlined by the National Research Council:…

Responds to Richard Innes's criticism of his June 2002 "Kappan" article. (PKP)

In recent years, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused the educational lens on testing children rather than teaching them. Much to the dismay of many educators and parents, the burden of this yearly ritual falls most heavily on learning disabled students, who are often tested inappropriately. A clear picture of what these special-needs students…

Even though Joel lived a continent away, many sixth-graders at a Title I school in California could easily identify with his life of poverty. Their empathy motivated them to launch an ambitious charitable project, which, Mr. Mitchell argues, had far greater educational value than the relentless test preparation that is standard fare in most…

Eliminating the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admissions might seem a form of covert affirmative action. Although it is possible to design a workable admissions policy that excludes standardized tests (as 15 percent of colleges have done), banishing admissions tests to further a social-policy goal indirectly is unsound policy. (Contains 25…

A recent Thomas B. Fordham Foundation report rated California Mathematical Standards first among the states and ahead of Japan. There was nothing in the midcentury precollegiate mathematics curriculum that is irrelevant today or not required by competent schools. A national mathematics curriculum is reflected in the nation's standardized testing.…

Educational researchers have paid little attention to "critique"--an activity young artists routinely use to assess and advance their creative projects. It is an activity from which they have a lot to learn, particularly in the context of community-based arts collaboratives. In school classrooms where teachers emphasize group projects…

In this article, the authors describe a collaborative effort involving 30 school districts in California's Silicon Valley that are seeking to overcome the ill effects of mandatory high-stakes standardized testing in mathematics. These districts administer, score, and analyze a common set of performance assessments in mathematics in a way that…