Merit-based procedures should be constantly reevaluated according to the circumstances to remain both valid and fair--two interrelated concepts. Inducing reevaluation, however, is difficult. These procedures are controlled by legitimate authorities, are rule and contract-bound, and can become quickly entrenched. This resistance to change calls for…

The increase in youth's self-identification as trans in the United States and Canada has created new urgency in schools to meet the needs of these students, yet education survey researchers have yet to find ways to assess their educational outcomes based on sex and gender. In this critical systematic review, I provide an overview of surveys from…

Teaching is a stressful profession with a high turnover rate. Schools and related institutions need to take more action to support teachers and keep teacher stress at a manageable level. The continued research and practical effort require measures to examine teachers' stress in a briefer and accurate manner. The Teacher Stress Scale is a recently…

In a unique learning context, language-positive environments outside the classroom, not enclosed instruction on U.S. campuses, education abroad foreign language instructors develop distinct teaching practices. Education abroad researchers have accounted for informal learning opportunities, yet few have attended to onsite language instruction. This…

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), US reading and math scores have recently dropped. This decline is believed to be the result of the school closings that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The drop likely contributed to the increase in pressure educators are feeling to teach in a way that leads to higher test…

This paper explores the conceptualisation and measurement of higher education (HE) student success relating to the world-of-work. It first considers the factors that catalysed a shift in perception and understanding of student success from engagement and academic achievement at university to post-graduation employment outcomes. It summarises and…

The OECD and its U.S. administrator, McGraw-Hill Education CTB, have recently concluded the first cycle of the OECD-Test for Schools in the U.S. This test is being marketed to local schools and is designed to compare 15-year-olds from individual participating schools against peers nationally and internationally using the OECD's PISA test as its…

The first national youth fitness evaluation conducted in the United States was in 1958. Since that time, schools have continued to administer fitness evaluations using a variety of tests with no national-level assessment of youth fitness [Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2012]. However, in September 2012, the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (PYFP)…

Australian legislation and educational policies may espouse, but not yet fully enact, inclusive assessments for all. In relation to the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), for example, almost 5% of students are either exempt or withdrawn. The achievement levels of these students, many of whom have disabilities, are not…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has had a monumental impact over the past decade on how educational reform is viewed in the United States. As a result of how the law is structured, schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing have been the focus of attention for educational reform under NCLB. While there have been some shifts…

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…

This article presents the author's rejoinder to thinking about linking from issue 8(1). Particularly within the more embracing linking frameworks, e.g., Holland & Dorans (2006) and Holland (2007), there appears to be a major disjunction between (1) classification discourse: the supposed basis for classification, that is, the underlying theory…

"Linking" is a term given to a general class of procedures by which one represents scores X on one test or measure in terms of scores Y on another test or measure. A recent taxonomy by Holland and Dorans (2006; Holland, 2007) organizes the various types of links into three broad categories: prediction, scale aligning, and equating. In…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…

An evaluation of Round One of a pilot study of a system for identifying effective youth organizations around the world is presented in this report. The report begins with a page of general observations about the successes and shortcomings of the pilot study, indicating that in general the study accomplished its objectives but that a need for…