The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was originally used to report academic improvement or decline in the performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year olds across major geographic regions. State-by-state comparison was carefully avoided. In 1988, however, Congress authorized the NAEP to conduct voluntary Trial State Assessments. (CJS)

Suggests that the National Assessment of Educational Progress's (NAEP) Trial State Assessment (TSA) will provide reliable and valid state-by-state comparisons of what students have learned and will assess their progress over time. The TSA will also provide information on home learning environments, instructional practices, educational resources,…

Suggests that the proposed state-by-state National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will be unable to provide information about which state programs are responsible for differences in test scores. Raises concerns about its cost effectiveness and potential loss of validity if used in state comparisons. (CJS)

An example is provided of an evaluation in which the formulation of explicit decision rules was a central activity. The case for and against the use of decision rules in program evaluation is considered, and the appropriate context identified. Implications for the rights of decision makers are addressed. (Author/CTM)

Discussion of performance assessment focuses on a study that was part of the International Evaluation of Achievement of computer education that tested students in grades 8 and 11 on word processing performance tasks. Results are examined to determine the useability, reliability, and validity of the process. (eight references) (LRW)

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) was created by Congress to formulate policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Among the Board's responsibilities are developing objectives and test specifications and designing the assessment methodology for NAEP. This document provides the framework to guide the development…

A sample of 15 eighth-grade Hispanic students in a bilingual classroom were used for a descriptive analysis of students' writing samples to compare their growth between pre- and post- writing samples in Spanish and English. This was accomplished by juxtaposing English and Spanish pre- and post-tests using the same holistic rubric developed by the…