Public school critics often point to rising expenditures and relatively flat test scores to justify their school reform agendas. The claims are flawed because their analyses fail to account for the difference in data types between dollars (ratio) and test scores (interval). A cost-benefit analysis using dollars as a common metric for both costs…

In the summer of 2011, the Tennessee Department of Education contracted with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) to provide a four-day training for all evaluators across the state. NIET trained more than 5,000 evaluators intensively in the state model (districts using alternative instruments delivered their own training).…

Presents a history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), focusing on procedural changes from 1969 to date and questions whether NAEP results should be used for accountability purposes. It recommends that NAEP should be insulated from reform efforts and that NAEP's monitoring of population levels of educational achievement…

A study examined teachers' reactions to the conceptual framework developed and used in designing the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading. A total of 312 classroom teachers (of 1000 surveyed) responded to a questionnaire about the "Reading Framework," a document used in developing the 1992 NAEP. Subjects…

Highlights several articles that raise questions about the role of research in educational reform. These articles argue over the use of National Assessment of Educational Progress results for accountability purposes; and the advisability of using cost-benefit analysis in critiquing educational reform proposals, and particularly, in evaluating the…

This report documents the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) special pilot study of group assessment. In 1994, NAEP administered U.S. History projects to a limited number of students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of group assessment, and to gain practical experience in the design, development,…

Noting that the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress used a variety of innovative assessment approaches, this executive summary discusses a number of issues related to the new reading assessment framework. An introductory section of the executive summary discusses the new framework for reading assessment, the transition in reporting…