Assessment is a cornerstone of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA), and development of appropriate assessments for grades 4, 8, and 12 has been a major focus of KERA implementation. This paper explores the development of performance events, portfolio assessments, and open-ended questions, with an emphasis on open-ended questions and…

Information was sought about three main issues related to voluntary national tests for fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade mathematics: (1) the relationship between the National Assessment Governing Board and the U.S. Department of Education; (2) costs of developing the national voluntary tests and procedures for hiring contractors; and (3)…

This report contains preliminary results from the 1992 mathematics assessment by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) of nationally representative samples of about 26,000 4th, 8th and 12th grade students in 1,500 public schools and private schools in 44 states; and compares data to findings from the 1990 NAEP mathematics tests.…

This report presents statistical data on the characteristics, distribution, enrollment rate, and academic achievement of language-minority children in Maine. The report contains three parts: (1) summative data on the total numbers of K-12 English monolingual and bilingual children in the state, private and public school survey return rates,…

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a method of identifying groups of students participating in a mandated statewide norm-referenced testing program who have undergone highly specific training in preparation for, or coaching during, test administration. The implementation of the analysis procedure was intended not only to identify…

A coding scheme developed by M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan was used in a study that investigated how students in grades 4, 6, and 8 developed meaning within narrative texts. Students, after being presented with a visual stimulus, were asked to describe what was happening and say what happened before and after the picture. Next, an oral assignment…

GRADES OR AGES: K-12. SUBJECT MATTER: English. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The first half of the guide consists of several chapters which give a general outline of the program. The second half is broken down into two sections--"Language in Action" and "Literature in Action"--which outline the program in greater detail. These two sections…

The formative evaluation of the curriculum, student attitudes, French achievement, and implementation of an elementary level core French program illustrates the usefulness of classroom observation and points to some general shortcomings in core French program content and teaching strategies. (MSE)

Grade four (20) and grade eight (20) Ontario parochial school children were interviewed to assess retrieval skills for school research projects, particularly selecting search areas/specific book sections for particular retrieval questions and evaluating gathered information. Older children were more skillful at generating/defining search areas and…

Under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) became mandatory for all states in mathematics and reading for grades four and eight. Under NCLB the stated role and purpose of collecting achievement data from states varies from being a "discussion tool" to a…

In 2001, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted a geography assessment of the nation's fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. This report presents the results of that assessment. Results in 2001 are compared to results of 1994's NAEP geography assessment, which was the preceding NAEP geography assessment and the…

Study examined whether adaptive and maladaptive functioning related to academic achievement in African-American and white students. Parent interviews indicated adaptive and maladaptive behaviors predicted grade point average and achievement test scores for white students, but only maladaptive behavior predicted scores for African-American…

Describes a social studies assignment developed for Arizona eighth graders that focuses on Arizona history but also incorporates English, math, and computer programming skills to create a computer program about traveling through the state. Topics discussed include classroom management, computer requirements, community involvement, and interaction…

With few exceptions, accountability systems for programs for English language learners (ELLs) have focused on the achievement patterns of ELLs who are still considered "limited English proficient" and program evaluations have been unable to answer the question whether ELLs actually catch up with English proficient peers after attending a bilingual…

This study examined student, parent, and teacher perceptions of the use of testing accommodations and the relationship between student perceptions of testing accommodations and their disability status and grade level. Students with and without disabilities completed math and reading achievement tests with and without accommodations. Students,…