A rich literature supports the use of data in schools to support improved teaching and learning. One widely implemented example of a data inquiry process is "Data Wise," developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to help instructional teams collaborate around multiple data sources, surface evidence of students' strengths and…

This article explores the development and evaluation of the Building Leadership Team Assessment Tool (BLT-AT), designed to measure Professional Learning Communities' (PLCs') use of effective school improvement practices. The BLT-AT is grounded in Ohio's inclusive instructional leadership model, which emphasizes the improvement of teaching and…

Background: School feeding programs' evaluation requires the measurement of food insecurity, a more objective indicator, within school in low-income countries. The Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) uses subjective indicators to report school feeding coverage rates across many countries that participate in the global survey of school meal…

While young people are generally better educated today than ever before, recent graduates tend to lack practical skills -- especially digital skills. Certification programs offer one effective way to address this digital skills gap. They give learners a way to gain the skills they need to compete, and also to demonstrate credibly that they possess…

Today many special education classrooms implement procedures based upon the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to establish educationally relevant skills and decrease aberrant behaviors. However, it is difficult for school staff and consultants to evaluate the implementation of various components of ABA and general classroom set up. In…

The report of the national response to intervention (RTI) evaluation study, conducted during 2011-2012, was released in November 2015. Anyone who has read the lengthy report can attest to its complexity and the design used in the study. Both these factors can influence the interpretation of the results from this evaluation. In this commentary, we…

As educational technology practitioners and researchers engage in research in the field, a wide array of research methodologies are available to them. One such methodology is the Delphi Technique. Use of the Delphi Technique offers many benefits, including the ability to obtain expert opinion, build consensus, determine the suitability of the…

Scotland, in common with many other countries internationally, has paid considerable attention to the development of assessment for learning. Currently, schools in Scotland are engaged in a major programme of curriculum and assessment reform, entitled Curriculum for Excellence. As part of the reform process, there is concern amongst practitioners,…

The Chinese have been using standardized testing for centuries. Ancient Greeks have tried it for centuries since 5th and 4th BC. There is no evidence that they have become successful in educating their children through an imperial or elitist system. The impact of standardizing the education on a nation is significant. This is not only true for not…

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS[R] EVAAS[R]) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as "the most robust and reliable" system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS[R] EVAAS[R] as…

Schools and districts should use a well-designed needs assessment to inform important decisions about a range of technology program areas. Presently, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments available and accessible to schools to effectively assess their educational needs to better design and evaluate their projects and initiatives. The…

The use of accommodations for both instruction and assessment continues to be of great importance for students with disabilities. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations, as well as to identify promising areas of research likely to contribute to understanding of current and emerging…

This article investigates several questions regarding the impact of different item formats on measurement characteristics. Constructed response (CR) items and multiple choice (MC) items obviously differ in their formats and in the resources needed to score them. As such, they have been the subject of considerable discussion regarding the impact of…

Many national reports indicate that more attention needs to be placed on writing and the teaching of writing in schools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to, first, examine the structure of the DWA and, second, to use the scores from the DWA to examine the relationship between ELL status and writing proficiency. Five major research…

This study examines the practical implications of using state tests to measure student achievement in impact evaluations that span multiple states and grades. In particular, the study examines the sensitivity of impact findings to (1) the type of assessment used to measured achievement (state tests or an external assessment administered by the…