This paper addresses three key topics related to making state National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments more efficient: (1) reducing the burden for the states; (2) stabilizing the assessment schedule; and (3) facilitating and promoting the use of state NAEP data. The paper recommends promoting the use of state NAEP data for…

Outlines concerns that must be addressed by those who advocate replacing statistical hypothesis-testing with alternative data-analysis strategies. Suggests that commonly recommended alternatives are not perfect and that various hypothesis-testing modifications can be implemented to make the process and its conclusions more credible. Hypothesis…

A computerized student record system with a testing system that allows schools to fully utilize testing data is being developed at Oakland Schools in Pontiac, Michigan. Test data are integrated with a tremendous amount of other information. Designed for flexibility, up to 1200 items can be stored within a student record for each test…

In fall 1997, a midwestern district initiated changes to enable all stakeholders (especially teachers) to be knowledgeable users of standardized and teacher-made test results. Two major activities were implemented: data notebooks for each school and a data-mentor program to develop school personnel's data-analysis skills. (MLH)

With the passage of "No Child Left Behind" in 2001, schools are expected to provide a standards-based curriculum for students to attain math and reading proficiency and demonstrate progress each year. "NCLB" requires more frequent student testing with publicly reported results in an effort to close the achievement gap and to inform parents,…

For some districts, the current obsession with data grows out of the need to comply with No Child Left Behind and additional accountability-related mandates. For others, it dates way back before the phrase "data-driven decision making" rolled so frequently off the tongues of educators. In either case, there is no denying that an integral…

Twelfth-grade students in Ohio who have passed all the sections of the ninth-grade proficiency tests take the twelfth-grade tests. Beginning in 1995-96, these tests will include science, although science will not become a factor in earning a diploma until the year 2000. This fact sheet provides information about the Twelfth-grade Proficiency Test…