Whenever classification decisions are made on educational tests, such as pass/fail, or basic, proficient, or advanced, the consistency and accuracy of those decisions should be estimated and reported. Methods for estimating the reliability of classification decisions made on the basis of educational tests are well-established (e.g., Rudner, 2001;…

Fifty years ago, Robert Glaser introduced the concept of criterion-referenced measurement in an article in American Psychologist. Its early proponents predicted that this measurement strategy would revolutionize education. But has it lived up to its promise? W. James Popham explores this question by looking at the history of criterion-referenced…

The assessment of physical literacy is vital and challenging for researchers and practitioners. Passport for Life is a Canadian global practitioner-based, formative, criterion-referenced assessment of physical literacy that is recorded in an online program. Students complete eight assessments divided across four broad categories of physical…

In this paper, we report on the design and implementation of a state of the art Student Information System (SIS) being developed in a moderate size Alberta, Canada school jurisdiction. The SIS design is premised upon transparency, balanced, comprehensive, and multi-method assessments that links qualitative and quantitative data in support of…

Federal education legislation continues to emphasize the role of assessment in elementary and secondary schools. Perhaps most prominently, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), requires the use of test-based educational accountability systems in states and specifies the…

Teachers committed to inclusive education have the potential to revolutionise pedagogical and assessment practices within regular classrooms simply because students with high needs challenge traditional assumptions about what it means "to learn" and "to assess". This creates opportunities for teachers to find creative ways to…

Over approximately the first decade of the 21st century, Nebraska educators have experienced the development and implementation of two differing assessment systems. The STARS system, implemented in 2001, was the first standards-based assessment system that Nebraska had supported and required of schools in the state. In early 2008, the Nebraska…

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of Nebraska teachers about their experiences in the transition from STARS to NeSA. The study explored their perceptions of the influence of the transition on implementation of a balanced assessment system. As defined by NDE, a balanced system included NeSA testing,…

The problems of shifting from norm-referenced assessment to criterion-referenced assessment have been identified by several scholars in recent years. These important critiques touch on a number of areas, but neglect a key question about how assessors learn to accomplish what Shay calls a "socially situated interpretive act". Research…

This guide attempts to address an aspect of secondary CTE (Career and Technical Education) that has received little attention; the assessment literacy of educators. School leaders need to go beyond ensuring routine compliance with external and internal regulatory forces to identify ways in which CTE program teachers might better understand…

Over two decades, national assessments in Ghana have revealed generally poor performances across curriculum-based tests for primary school (Grades 1-6). Various reform agendas have been applied to the education system, sometimes with isolated success, but the overall performances remained stable and low. Surveying teacher mentors in schools…

In this report, student growth percentiles and percentile growth projections/trajectories are introduced as a means of understanding student growth in both normative and a criterion referenced ways. With these values calculated, the author shows how growth data can be utilized in both a norm- and in a criterion-referenced manner to inform…

This three-year comparative study investigated the impact of the Reading First (RF) Program on student performance as measured by statewide-mandated English Language Arts (ELA) assessment programs. A matching procedure was used where 3 RF schools and 3 non-RF schools from two rural school districts in north Louisiana were matched. The ELA test…

Correlation and regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship of student mobility (as expressed by the school-level mobility rate) and first through fifth grade reading, language arts, and mathematics achievement for a statewide sample of 1062 elementary schools. Comparison data were analyzed to further investigate the relationship…

This technical brief describes the large-scale assessment measures and practices used in the jurisdictions served by the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory. The need for effective large-scale assessment was identified as a major priority for improving student achievement in the Pacific Region jurisdictions: American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, the…