Balanced assessment systems provide feedback and support decision-making to improve instruction and learning. "Supporting Continuous Improvement Efforts Through Balanced Assessment Systems: Components, Integration, and High-Leverage Actions" outlines key features and components, integration of various assessment approaches, and guiding…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) James Madison University: Reflections on Sustained Excellence in Assessment (Keston H. Fulcher and Elizabeth R. H. Sanchez); (2) Editor's Notes: Assessment Excellence Abounds! (Stephen P. Hundley); (3) The Promise of an All-in-One Assessment System for Student…

States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

Significant emphasis is currently placed on STEM education as a vehicle to encourage American youth to enter science, technology, engineering, and math-related professions. Gifted students are a natural resource of future innovators for these fields; however gifted programs are largely overlooked for program support. Since 1973, the Virginia…

Emboldened by the provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, state and local education leaders are increasingly interested in redesigning their systems of assessment to further align with college and career readiness and to support meaningful learning for all students. This paper presents stories from three states undertaking this work:…

Emboldened by the provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, state and local education leaders are increasingly interested in redesigning their systems of assessment to further align with college and career readiness and to support meaningful learning for all students. This paper presents stories from three states undertaking this work:…

Given increasing emphasis on assessment and accountability across the globe in higher education, it is clear that individual institutions must take action and provide evidence in response to these concerns. This article provides an example of how one university has developed a central office for assessment, facilitated the development of an…

Assessing learning does not by itself result in increased student accomplishment, much like a pig never fattened up because it was weighed. Indeed, recent research shows that while institutions are more regularly engaging in assessment, they have little to show in the way of stronger student performance. This paper clarifies how assessment results…

In 2010, HCM Strategists received support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to engage academic researchers in identifying and discussing the best currently available ways to account for differences in college "inputs"--students, resources, and fixed characteristics--when evaluating postsecondary outcomes. The project, Context…

Distance writing programs still struggle with assessment strategies that can evaluate student writing as well as their ability to communicate about that writing with peers at a distance. This article uses Kim, Smith and Maeng's 2008 distance education program assessment scheme to evaluate a single distance writing program at Old Dominion…

This toolkit is designed to help community schools evaluate their efforts so that they learn from their successes, identify current challenges, and plan future efforts. It provides a step-by-step process for planning and conducting an evaluation at your community school site(s). The toolkit is a practical, hands-on guide that makes it possible for…

Discusses platform unity, or aligning curriculum content with appropriate test types. Presents findings from a survey of 30 Virginia community college faculty, indicating that the faculty did not plan and test content congruently, tended to overtest content, and were effective but not efficient in test selection. (25 citations) (AJL)

This document contains the full results of a public-opinion survey of Virginia residents on education issues. The survey was conducted by telephone, using a randomly selected sample of adults. The sample for this poll was 804 respondents, which represents a cooperation rate of 49 percent. Respondents answered questions on the following topics: (1)…

The Annual Local Evaluation, a systematic procedure for evaluating the total vocational education program in a local school division, is presented, and represents phase three of an evaluation program developed by the Division of Vocational Education, Virginia State Department of Education. The evaluation procedure will serve as a basis for 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…