In 2011, Indiana lawmakers established a system to evaluate teachers using existing standardized assessments as an indicator of student learning. In this study we examined one component of Indiana's evaluation system to determine whether student knowledge of the test's consequences is predictive of test performance. Using an experimental design,…

Even as the Internet and i-devices have changed so many parts of people's lives, educational testing has not changed substantially in decades. Though researchers and educators have for years raised ample concerns about existing tests, assessments have barely evolved. Further, despite years of expanded testing and greater school accountability,…

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) recently published the results of the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Music, the fourth in a series of NAEP music assessments that began in 1971. It is important that NAEP, known as "The Nation's Report Card," measures the music achievement of America's students, both…

This editorial reviews recent studies of accountability policies using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data and compares the use of aggregate NAEP data to the availability of individual-level data from NAEP. While the individual-level NAEP data sets are restricted-access and do not give accurate point-estimates of achievement,…

This article examines the relationship between the mathematical knowledge of 438 K-8 California teachers and the demographics of the schools in which they work. To measure mathematical knowledge, we used a series of multiple-choice problems meant to represent both the content teachers teach and the specialized knowledge of mathematics that…

Today's standardized tests are not the best way to evaluate schools or students. These tests do not evaluate what students have learned in school. There is a high likelihood that the specific content sampled by a standardized test may be seriously inconsistent with local curricula aspirations. Sidebars report on recommendations from the Commission…

An analysis of national programs for monitoring student achievement in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds that "national assessment" promotes a view of "standards" which is narrow, limiting, and definitely not conducive to the emergence of flexible and imaginative educational policies designed to cope…

Reports on the 1985 convention of the National Education Association noting changes in the group's politics and its efforts to present a more moderate image. One event during the convention was a march on the South African Embassy protesting apartheid. (MD)

This paper examines educational assessment systems in Canada and the United States, especially participation or nonparticipation of students with disabilities in provincial, state, or national assessments. Canada's lack of a national assessment system and U.S. lack of guidelines regarding participants and allowable accommodations for its national…

This paper comments that problems with Great Britain's Key Stage 1 standard assessment tasks (SATs) for pupils with special educational needs involve the SATs design and use. Issues discussed include activity-based assessments, adaptations, time demands, step size, future development of SATs, and disapplications of the National Curriculum. (JDD)

This survey of 34 primary schools and 5 local education authorities in Great Britain examined reactions to the pilot test of Key Stage 1 standard assessment tasks (SATs), as they related to special needs students. Teachers' criticisms focused on the overwhelming workload, questionable SAT reliability, and resulting decline in the quality of…

This paper describes pilot testing of Great Britain's standard assessment tasks (SATs), focusing on children with special educational needs. Two SATs were produced (Change and Movement) to assess three core subjects (English, mathematics, and science.) The need for SAT adaptations to allow children with disabilities equal access is stressed. (JDD)

Inter- and intra-district public school choice, vouchers, tuition tax credits and other forms of school choice have been advocated for decades, in large part on grounds that the market forces engendered will improve public education. There are many studies of school choice policies and programs and a large theoretical literature on school choice,…

This paper notes conflicts among England's education laws and discusses philosophical and practical weaknesses of the National Curriculum for serving students with special needs. European practices are described, and it is concluded that establishing central control can actually discourage curriculum differentiation and encourage the exclusion…