The importance of educational accountability and assessment literacy is recognized as a long-term challenge to the educational system. The complexities in becoming an assessment literate and provide an opportunity to the educators to display their effective learning is discussed.

Assessment for learning involves the frequent, continual use of both formal and informal classroom assessments. It can be as simple as requiring students to respond to a lesson-embedded, one-item quiz as a way of gauging student understanding of what is being taught. Ideally, this innovative approach to classroom assessment is based on a careful…

To gather information on how No Child Left Behind's testing mandates have affected students and schools, Wisconsin ASCD conducted an electronic survey of administrators in every school district in the state. A total of 171 districts responded. Their responses indicated that the very resources that are central to the goals of NCLB--instructional…

Ralph Tyler answers questions about his work in educational evaluation during the past 50 years and identifies the major problems in education today as educating disadvantaged children, improving the transition of youth into constructive adult life, and rebuilding the total educational environment for children. (MLF)

Skillfully interviewing students can elicit useful information about the quality of the educational program. (JM)

Drawing from research findings, this article identifies five dimensions of teacher evaluation (summative versus formative evaluation, criteria and standards, discernment versus criticism, and arithmetic versus holistic evaluation), then suggests three methods for making holistic judgments about teachers. (Author/JM)

The core of adversary evaluation is the existence of opposing viewpoints, not adherence to existing formats for presenting them. Suggests that evaluators develop adversary methods more appropriate for education. (Author/MLF)

Introduces an instrument for teachers to use in clarifying their beliefs on discipline so they can select strategies with which they are comfortable. (Author/MLF)

The Mukilteo (Washington) School District developed an assessment plan to provide reliable feedback on primary students' reading performance, allow documentation of student progress over time, and enlighten parents. Collaborating with the University of Washington, the district decided to employ timed oral reading fluency measures to screen all K-3…

Describes an inservice program used by the Los Angeles School District for training school administrators, program coordinators, and instructional staff members in developing plans for implementing and evaluating instructional programs. (JG)

Presents common attributes of effective evaluation systems, which are drawn from studies in Arizona, Michigan, and Vermont. Attributes include participant acceptance of validity, participant understanding of system mechanics and rationale, properly trained evaluators, a variety of evaluation methods, and evaluation as a district priority. (CJH)

The Aurora Public School System (Colorado) has devised a plan to ensure implementation of the adopted curriculum. By developing a program monitoring process and incorporating it in a handbook, staff can rate their behavior and use "green flags" or "red alerts" to characterize subject area strengths and deficiencies. (MLH)

Discusses the development of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and describes how its methods and materials are being used in Nebraska, Connecticut, Maine, and other states as a tool to improve educational programs. (Author/JG) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Utilization).