Testing programs are often classified as high or low stakes to indicate how stringently they need to be evaluated. However, in practice, this classification falls short. A high-stakes label is taken to imply that all indicators of measurement quality must meet high standards; whereas a low-stakes label is taken to imply the opposite. This approach…

The West Virginia Department of Education has crafted this document to offer policy guidance to teams and Section 504 committees in providing appropriate access for students in statewide assessments; and to assist teachers and schools to work within the framework of federal law and state policies. The guidelines are referenced by West Virginia…

As a condition of receiving federal funds, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires state education agencies to implement statewide assessments in mathematics and English language arts every year in third through eighth grade and once in ninth through 12th grade. The federal law also requires a science assessment once in each of three grade spans:…

This summary document highlights findings from CNA's study, "Manufacturing a Way to Career Readiness: How Industry Measures Student Readiness" (ED612988). In the study, CNA Education examined how central Kentucky employers in a high-wage, high-growth industry--advanced manufacturing--determine the readiness and additional training needs…

More clarity on career readiness and how to measure it would help educators prepare students for adult life and inform industry professionals who hire young adults. This report is a step in providing that information by exploring how a high-wage, high-growth industry--advanced manufacturing--determines the readiness and additional training needs…

This statewide Report Card to the Public is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2014-2015. Under state law, each school district also is required to report information about its performance. Public knowledge pertaining to the school system is an important part of Alaska's accountability system. This report is…

This statewide "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2013-2014. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its performance. Public knowledge of the school system is an important part of Alaska's school accountability system. This report…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2012-2013. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. Public knowledge of the school…

Examines relationship between content of the Florida Professional Education Test for teacher certification and an evaluation of teacher-accomplished practices, using an investigator-developed instrument. Finds that 73 percent of content of certification test either did not relate or related weakly to Florida teacher-accomplished practices. Draws…

The Career and Occupational Development (COD) assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was made up of about 70 percent free response exercises requiring hand scoring. This paper describes the techniques used in developing the "scoring guides" for these exercises and summarizes the results of two empirical…

The use of psychological and educational tests in World War I led to their adoption in schools for testing intelligence and achievement in order to classify students academically according to a national norm. After World War II, rapid changes in occupational and social structure demanded the education and identification of students for employment.…

The American Federal of Teachers' president, Albert Ahanker, advocates forming a board of leading educators to develop a national qualifying examination of those newly entering the teaching profesion. The test would cover subject matter knowledge and instructional potential. Public pressure would ensure that states and districts adopted the…

A strength of this exploration of testing and test use in the United States is the concern for how tests affect student conceptions of learning and student relation to knowledge. A weakness is a persistent confounding of classroom and large-scale assessment for state and national purposes. (SLD)

"Assessing Student Performance" sets forth arguments for looking at testing and assessment. The exploration is more about morality and epistemology than about technology and politics. A principal assumption is that mainstream assessment and testing philosophy is flawed. (SLD)

This document presents information, in the form of summary sheets, on 54 teacher evaluation instruments. Each summary contains pertinent information about the instrument regarding publishing company, author, criteria evaluated, subject of observation, category dimension, and coding units. The 19 criteria used in the evaluation tests, which were…