Standardized tests are under a microscope as states prepare to administer new PARCC and Smarter Balanced tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards. This brief takes on five concerns about testing and is designed to help funders reframe the larger conversation to preserve a critical source of information about school, teacher and student…

For decades, standardized reading comprehension tests have consisted of a series of passages and associated multiple-choice questions. Although widely used in and out of the classroom, there continues to be considerable disagreement regarding how or whether such tests have net value in the service of advancing educational progress in reading. This…

The problematic issues related to standardized assessment of the nonstandard and to multiple ways of knowing in the visual arts motivated the research and first phase development of eLASTIC: electronic learning and assessment tool for interdisciplinary connections. In this article, the author describes the evolution and implications associated…

This article focuses on California's efforts to improve the alignment between K-12 and postsecondary schooling through the Early Assessment Program (EAP). Implemented in 2004, the EAP was designed to give high school students information about their academic preparedness for postsecondary education and to encourage teachers to teach for college…

California is in the midst of a fundamental remaking of its assessment and accountability system that has been in place for 15 years. The state has the opportunity to play a leadership role in developing a multi-faceted assessment and accountability system that goes beyond a narrow focus on test scores and that could be a model for the nation. The…

The Adult High School (AHS) program enables an adult no longer enrolled in public high school to complete the required courses and state assessments to earn a standard high school diploma. Course requirements are in accordance with standards established by the state. A program of instruction for both traditional and co-enrolled AHS students shall…

Today's grading practices mirror those of the early 1900s, and despite myriad research suggesting they are invalid, unreliable, and a hindrance to student learning, many teachers continue detrimental practices such as using 100-point percentage scales averaging all academic and nonacademic factors together into a single grade, and using grades to…

Student assessment in the Czech Republic is still rather traditional, with classroom practice continuing to focus on summative assessment. The country has regularly participated in international surveys, but the findings from these only started to influence educational policy during the past decade, when Czech students' performance fell markedly…

This paper presents primary school teachers' conceptions of "assessment for learning" in government schools in Brunei Darussalam. The Ministry of Education in Brunei introduced a 21st century education system (codenamed SPN21) in 2007 and one of the initiatives brought by SPN21 was the implementation of School Based Assessment for…

Educators need to become more assessment literate. When they do, they will be able to use assessments better to guide their teaching and communicate their expectations and results with students and the broader education stakeholders and audiences.

National efforts to address the degree completion goals of the country cannot succeed without focusing on strategies to improve the educational attainment of Latinos. Latinos are the nation's second largest racial or ethnic group, and growing. Compared to other racial/ethnic populations, however, Latinos have lower rates of educational attainment…

As state tests of student achievement are used for an increasingly wide array of high- and low-stakes purposes, evaluating their instructional sensitivity is essential. This article uses data from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Measures of Effective Project to examine the instructional sensitivity of 4 states' mathematics and English…

Our 1997 article in "IJAIED" reported on a study that showed that a new algebra curriculum with an embedded intelligent tutoring system (the Algebra Cognitive Tutor) dramatically enhanced high-school students' learning. The main motivation for the study was to demonstrate that intelligent tutors that have cognitive science research…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and solutions encountered by Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs currently serving older adults seeking a GED credential in states where this is the only high school equivalency option available. The following questions guided this research: (1) what are the perceived characteristics and…

Recent findings of passageless comprehension by college readers have added to the fallout with standardized reading comprehension tests and have called for theoretically and psychometrically stronger options. Reviewing the research literature, this paper suggests the maze test as an option for college reading assessment. The existing evidence,…