This chapter describes a collective faculty effort to administer, proctor, score, and interpret student work that created an unexpected opportunity for deep discussions of teaching, learning, and assessment.

Competency-based education, also referred to as mastery-based, proficiency-based or performance-based education, is a system of education designed to equitably ensure all students develop the success skills they will need for college, career and life. Competency-based education is gaining momentum and visibility. Districts and schools turn to…

This chapter proposes approaches for assessing learners and evaluating courses and curriculum that could be used by directors of health professions education (HPE) programs to determine the effectiveness and impact of their programs.

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) was signed by President Barack Obama and became the United States' current national education law (United States Department of Education [U.S. DOE], n.d.). The ESSA was a long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Unlike previous…

This publication provides an overview of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The following topics are covered : (1) Introductory Information, including a timelime and ESSA modifications to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); (2) State Plan; 3) Statewide Accountability System, ; (4) Academic Assessments; (5) Standards; (6) School Improvement;…

This policy report provides an overview of the Common Core State Standards, how they were developed, the sources that were referenced in their development, the need for educational standards generally, what they entail, and what it will mean for educators to implement them. The report draws from research and reference material to outline the…

Educational evaluation in too many states and school districts, if done at all across an institution, has been reduced to crunching test scores in only the subject areas and grade levels tested. While measuring student achievement in reliable and valid ways is an important part of the mission of education, it is not enough. What's also needed is a…

There is widespread agreement that America's school system is in desperate need of reform, but many educational interventions are ineffective, expensive, or difficult to implement. Recent incentive programs, however, demonstrate that well-designed rewards to students can improve achievement at relatively low costs. Fryer and Allan draw on…

At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH) was informed that they had met Alaska's Annual Yearly Progress as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the first time ever. This was incredibly exciting and worth celebrating since teachers had invested so much "blood,…

The National Educational Technology Plan 2010 (NETP) presents a model of twenty-first-century learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. This article connects NETP ideas in one of these areas--assessment--with those of the Assessment and…

One of the biggest challenges facing the career and technical education (CTE) community as it works to implement the 2006 Perkins Act is responding to more rigorous requirements for reporting on CTE students' technical skill attainment. The U.S. Department of Education suggested in non-regulatory guidance that states and locals use the number of…

A prerequisite for AfL to be successfully implemented in the classroom is the teachers' assessment practice. In many contexts, including the Norwegian, AfL has not been successfully dealt with during initial teacher education, and there is a need for qualified teachers to engage in professional development in AfL. This article first discusses…