This publication presents a series of studies that the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) staff, led by Staci Provezis and Natasha Jankowski, conducted over the past couple of years. It may be the most comprehensive examination yet of institutional transparency in terms of student learning outcomes and the assessment…

In this paper, we assess students' performance in Elements of Statistics, one of the popular courses in general education, using data from UWF (University of West Florida) for fall 2008, fall 2009, and fall 2010 semesters. We analyze associations between students' performance in the course and several performance related factors including: college…

Aligning curriculum change and assessment reforms has been a topic of great concern in Namibia for over the past 23 years. This is because during the pre-colonial period and continuing in post-independence Namibia, national examinations have been used mainly for the certification and selection of learners at Junior and Senior secondary school…

In the Hastings Nebraska Public schools, two of the eight schools have been identified as national models of educational effectiveness. In seven of eight buildings, in just four years, student test scores have increased from around 60% proficiency to around 80% proficiency or better. At Hastings, central office leaders emphasize three key…

This qualitative study examined elementary and middle school students' perceptions of assessment. Individual interviews were conducted with 64 students, with questions focused on their emotional reactions and thinking about classroom and large-scale assessment as related to goal orientation, self-regulation, attributions, and self-efficacy.…

Proponents of formative assessment (FA) assert that students develop a deeper understanding of their learning when the essential components of formative feedback and cultural responsiveness are effectively incorporated as central features of the formative assessment process. Even with growing international agreement among the research community…

Testing and test results can be used in different ways. They can be used for regulation and control, but they can also be a pedagogic tool for assessment of student proficiency in order to target teaching, improve learning and facilitate local pedagogical leadership. To serve these purposes the test has to be used for low stakes purposes, and to…

On August 9, 2012, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) convened a meeting of researchers and U.S. Department of Education (ED) and IES staff to discuss recent advances in measuring teacher effectiveness. The objectives of the meeting were to: (1) Identify and discuss recent advances in the use of value-added models (VAMs) and student growth…

Developments in school education in Australia over the past decade have witnessed the rise of national efforts to reform curriculum, assessment and reporting. Constitutionally the power to decide on curriculum matters still resides with the States. Higher stakes in assessment, brought about by national testing and international comparative…

Schools are drowning in test data, but many schools do little with test results other than sort students into various categories of proficiency or lack thereof. Some educators feel testing has taken the joy out of teaching. Others believe valuable instructional time has been lost as a result of testing. Yet, NCLB and other federal and state…

Mandated literacy assessment is now a ubiquitous practice in many western educational systems. While educational researchers, principals, teachers and education unions continue to offer vociferous resistance in some nations, in others it is now commonplace in the educational landscape and built into the rhythms of the school year. This paper is…

What's the best estimate of student performance on the Common Core State Standards? ACT, an organization involved in developing the standards, wanted to know how well today's students are meeting them. To find out, it analyzed the test results of 256,765 11th graders who took selected forms of the ACT test in spring 2010. In its report, "A First…

Most of us have had at least one amazing teacher who has inspired, influenced, or encouraged us to do better, aim higher, or just be more confident. However, most of us have also had at least one teacher who has not met our expectations. In "Teachers Matter", education researcher Marcus A. Winters, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute,…

Building on findings from existing qualitative research into public perceptions of reliability in examination results in England, a questionnaire was developed and administered to samples of teachers, students and employers to study their awareness of and opinions about various aspects of reliability quantitatively. Main findings from the study…

This article focuses on high school students' knowledge and notions of citizenship after taking the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Naturalization Test. The students' test results and responses show emerging support for the need to make changes to the test as well as the students' limited conceptions of citizenship. In…