In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a prominent example of such an effort, but it is only the continuation of a steady trend toward greater test-based accountability in…

Educational assessment and, more broadly, educational research in the United States have entered into an era characterized by a dramatic increase in the prevalence and importance of test score use in accountability systems. This volume covers a selection of contemporary issues about testing science and practice that impact the nation's public…

Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this…

This report, Focusing on Student Performance Through Accountability, shows that more students, in all groups, are meeting state standards. And parents, communities and education leaders are better informed about student performance than ever before. It shows that large gaps remain in every state. If the state is to reach the No Child Left Behind…

Spurred by the economic boom of the late 1990s and a decades-old national standards movement that increased both the transparency of assessment results and the awareness of urban public school failure, communities across the country are turning to community organizing as a strategy for improving public education. As organizations confront the…