Evaluators use their eyes to see what is there, whether it is intended or not. But they use their test instruments to measure what is intended, whether it is there or not. Evaluators have been broadening their repertoire of instruments for years: curriculum-embedded tests, observer checklists, audiotape recorders, videotape recorders, unobtrusive…

It's no secret that fewer and fewer women are entering computer science fields. Attracting high school girls to computer science is only part of the solution. Retaining them while they are in higher education or the workforce is also a challenge. To solve this, there is a need to show girls that computer science is a wide-open field that offers…

In Fall 2008, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) conducted an alignment content analysis of the 2007 TIMSS Mathematics and Science education assessments for students at grades 4 and 8 and the 2006 PISA Mathematics and Science Literacy assessments for students at age 15 (i.e., TIMSS--Trends in Mathematics and Science Study,…

S. Zellman (personal communication, September 16, 2003), Ohio's superintendent of public instruction, stated, "Students in Ohio's urban high schools demonstrate serious shortcomings in their academic performance." Hence, this ex post facto study, which used pre-existing data, sought to investigate if a statistical difference between the…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…