As educators confront the challenge of remediating COVID-19 learning loss--and policymakers wrestle with measuring it amid widespread discontent with testing--now is an apt time to consider how much of the current accountability and assessment regime is truly necessary. This report examines the state of testing post-March 2020 and explores how a…

The 2012 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

Education has undergone a sweeping renovation throughout the last several decades as part of the school accountability movement aimed to increase student success. High school graduation rates are the highest they have been in decades. School accountability measures continue to be implemented and modified with a goal of increasing student success…

The "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) Supreme Court decision ruled that segregated schools were unequal and unconstitutional. Since Brown's ruling, scholars have questioned whether African American children have benefitted from school desegregation and subsequent school reform initiatives. In spite of several post-Brown school reform…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

We analyzed the effect of grade span configurations (i.e., 6-8 versus K-8) on reading and math performance in Texas public schools for the last 5 school years. Participants in this study were 628 Texas schools (i.e., 314 middle schools and 314 K-8 schools) distributed across the 5 school years examined. Schools configured as K-8 schools were…

This project compared annual mandated assessment results for an urban charter school, two comparable urban schools and the encompassing urban district. Scores in grades three through eight in the target school were analyzed to determine the percentage of students scoring at proficiency levels three and four (scores of one and two are considered…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

The authors' goals in this study are to use both the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and state accountability test score data to (1) provide a detailed description of the magnitude and trends of state-level academic achievement gaps among cohorts of students entering school in the 1990s and 2000s; (2) investigate the extent to…

A high school principal and faculty celebrated after hearing that their students in each of the quartiles had improved in both reading and mathematics on the state accountability assessment. Because of the percent of increases in achievement levels on the test, the Florida Department of Education awarded the school an A for 2011. Shortly…

"Scaling" is the process of constructing a score scale that associates numbers or other ordered indicators with the performance of examinees. Scaling typically is conducted to aid users in interpreting test results. This module describes different types of raw scores and scale scores, illustrates how to incorporate various sources of…

This report measures trends in performance among urban schools receiving federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) awards as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Council of the Great City Schools aims to document how member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools implemented SIG and specifically what…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

It's no surprise that, 28 years after the publication of "A Nation at Risk," school-reform efforts have generated so little effect. The nation's schools have proven, over the past century, adept at resisting change. Recent attempts to inject accountability and innovation have brought an important opportunity. No Child Left Behind helped…

With the tenth anniversary of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) fast approaching, that law's legacy continues to be fiercely contested. This new analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress scores--focusing on Texas and on the entire nation--by former National Center for Education Statistics commissioner Mark Schneider finds that solid gains…