Scoring SAT-style exam essays, John S. O'Connor is struck by the disconnection between the subject matter and students' personal lives. Further, O'Connor notes that such tests draw an alarming distinction between writing and "content"--as if the two are unrelated. O'Connor calls for a broader understanding of literacy, and he warns of dire…

As teachers begin shaping lessons for the common standards, many are wondering how to prepare their students for tests that won't be ready for at least two years. Sample items being drafted for those exams offer early ideas of what lies ahead. Two large groups of states are using federal Race to the Top money to create new suites of exams for the…

Background/Context: Educational researchers and policymakers have often lamented the failure of teachers to implement what they consider to be technically sound assessment procedures. In recent years, the belief that teachers are unwilling or unable to implement appropriate assessment procedures has contributed to the rapid expansion of high…

Objective: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was introduced in undergraduate psychiatry clerkship in 2008. The authors studied the effect of OSCE on the students' performance. Methods: The "short case" (SC) and "oral examination" (OE), two of the five components of the previous assessment format, were…

The paper reports on the adaptation of a D-KEFS test battery for Slovakia. Drawing on concrete examples, it describes and illustrates the key issues relating to the transfer of test items from one socio-cultural environment to another. The standardisation sample of the population of Slovak pupils in the fourth year of primary school included 250…

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as the nation's major law governing public schools. ESSA retains the requirement that states test all students in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school, as well as the requirement that…

This, the 32nd annual National Child Count of Children and Youth Who Are Deaf-Blind, is the first and longest running registry and knowledge base of children who are deaf-blind in the world. Begun in 1986 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, it represents a thirty-plus year collaborative effort between the National Center on…

This report provides a summary of states currently administering end-of-course (EOC) assessments. The number of EOC assessments administered by states, the subjects most likely to have an associated EOC exam, and the purpose of EOC exams (for example, percentage of the final course grade and/or graduation requirement) are reviewed. State policies…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between technology skills and academic achievement among eighth-grade students. Previous studies investigated the relationship between the use of technology as a teaching tool and student outcomes, but none had specifically examined students' technology skill competencies with…

Computerized testing, including the widely used MAP test, has infiltrated the public schools in Milwaukee and across the nation, bringing with it a frightening future for public education. High-stakes standardized tests can be scored almost immediately via the internet, and testing companies can now easily link districts to their online data…

This article reports on findings from a review of statewide large-scale test blueprints. The qualitative and descriptive numerical review of themes found in state blueprints provides information on trends in statewide reading assessments. These trends are then set against the backdrop of testing accommodations for students with disabilities.…

Even as the Internet and i-devices have changed so many parts of people's lives, educational testing has not changed substantially in decades. Though researchers and educators have for years raised ample concerns about existing tests, assessments have barely evolved. Further, despite years of expanded testing and greater school accountability,…

This is an instrumental case study of 1 novice and 1 experienced secondary social studies teachers' concurrent assessment practices within tightly structured, standardized-tested curricula and flexible elective curricula. It is anchored by 2 questions: (1) How did the teachers' assessment stances and practices manifest across the 2…

The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of aural and kinesthetic rhythm skill development in elementary school-age children. In this study, I examined my curriculum model for rhythm understanding, which included creating and implementing assessments of movement skills in meter and rhythm. The research questions were: 1.…

This research aims at examining the reactions of tertiary EFL teachers towards the use of performance-based language assessment. The study employed a mixed-method research methodology. For the quantitative method, 36 teachers responded to a questionnaire survey. In addition, four teachers participated in the in-depth interviews which were…