SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) is one of the federally funded regional educational laboratories. This annual publication captures and shares the experiences of SERVE school districts that have volunteered to share their efforts at assessment reform. This issue contains the following articles: (1) "Classroom Assessment: A…

The theme of this issue of the quarterly journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is the system of early childhood education in the United States, focusing on various challenges to making high-quality preschool education a reality for all children. The following articles are featured: (1) "Principles and…

SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) is one of the 10 federally funded regional educational laboratories. This annual publication captures and shares the experiences of SERVE school districts that have volunteered to share their efforts at assessment reform. This issue contains the following: (1) "We Never Get over the Fear of…

This special double issue focuses on the issue of alternative assessment and its place in educational reform. "Alternative Assessment: A National Perspective" (T. Stefonek) emphasizes that the fundamental purposes of new assessment methods are grounded in educational goals, meaningful outcomes, and curricular and instructional programs…

Students with disabilities have been excluded to an unreasonable extent from large-scale assessment programs at the national, state, and local levels. One implication of this exclusion practice is that students who are left out of assessments tend not to be considered during reform efforts. Another implication is that estimates of performance are…

This report examines issues concerning the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities participating in state and district assessments. The report considers what an accommodation is, what kinds of accommodations are available, who should make the decision regarding accommodations, when accommodations should be used, and how…

This new serial publication is designed to provide teachers, administrators, and policy makers who work with English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students with a forum for presenting innovations, concerns, and recommendations related to the schooling of language minority students. The main section of the publication, "Describing Our…

The National Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices (1996) developed a framework to analyze state and local policies and their effects on school inclusion. The framework focuses on standards-based systemic reform across six major policy areas: curriculum, student assessment, accountability, personnel development and professional training,…

This report addresses issues concerned with reporting educational results for students with disabilities, identifies principles to guide reporting practices, and offers recommendations. The report notes that there are many purposes for reporting and that reporting information on students with disabilities is important because it ensures that they…

In response to new provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this issue describes the promising special education research that is helping all students participate successfully in large-scale testing programs. The first article, "State-Wide Assessment Programs," discusses the new provisions in IDEA that…

This monograph provides a status report on issues related to accountability, including standards and assessments, data systems, and the role of incentives for schools, teachers, and students in improving student achievement. Using information gathered from the literature and interviews with state administrators of vocational education, this paper…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…