The source of most of the opposition to educational assessment is fear on the part of administrators and teachers that assessment will be used as an instrument of evaluation. Assessment plans make it impossible to identify individual teachers or schools. Thus, the fear that someone may be penalized because of a bad assessment is not realistic.…

An educational evaluation design based on a non-linear model of change is presented for use in configuring statewide and/or district-wide systems to support schools in which all students learn to think and acquire basic skills and information. Discussed as a concrete example is Connecticut's Common Core of Learning (CCL), which describes what the…

The need for goals in postsecondary and higher education is discussed. It is suggested that the development of statewide goals can serve as a means of making postsecondary education accountable to the public without resort to increased control and regulation. The process being used in Georgia to develop statewide goals for postsecondary education,…

According to a new law, state testing in California should be directed toward broad program evaluation rather than the diagnostic assessment of individual students which should be the responsibility of each local district. The data from the state testing program is used primarily for public information and to facilitate decision making at the…

Some observations are presented on a social indicators approach to statewide educational assessment. The context of the observations is the Oregon Department of Education model for educational planning. Much of what is said can also be applied to educational planning and program evaluation at the federal level or in large school systems. For the…

The first section of this paper presents the results of Ohio's 1999-2000 Annual Education Technology Assessment. Topics addressed include: the assessment methodology, progress toward eight SchoolNet goals, and better state and local decisions; overall progress toward building the infrastructure and fostering the growth of new practices; and needed…

Under the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA), Title I programs are evaluated using standards-based multiple measures. In California, school systems would like to use state standards for the evaluation, but state performance standards are still under development and content standards are very new. The Sacramento City Schools (California) has…

That teachers should be held accountable for conducting the best possible instructional processes, not for guaranteeing learning, is the view of the National Education Association (NEA). Because of the inadequate nature of tests of student achievement, the diverse nature of student populations, and the various conditions affecting learning, the…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…

Although emphatically not against the concept of educational accountability, the National Education Association (NEA) feels that a redirection is needed in the implementation of such a system. Because of error, especially in testing minority and poor children, accountability programs should never use test results as the major source of data but…

This overview of the Alaska system for test development, scoring, and reporting explored differences and similarities between norm-referenced and standards-based tests. The current Alaska testing program is based on legislation passed in 1997 and 1998, and is designed to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Legislation. In…

A follow-up survey was conducted of the 1978 Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) to ascertain what impact the Pennsylvania Statewide Assessment Program had on schools and school districts. The survey instrument consisted of 20 items tapping: (1) the quality of information and services provided; (2) dissemination activities engaged in by the…

The ultimate test for success of a statewide assessment program is the extent to which the assessment data and information are used by the intended assessment audiences. The major premise adopted in this paper is that involvement of parents, teachers, and school administrators in the assessment process is the key to acceptance and subsequent use…

Kentucky's systemic reform initiative has been heralded as one of the more comprehensive and well-sustained reforms in recent history. To evaluate the course of this reform, the challenges associated with researching and evaluating a statewide systemic reform effort are detailed here. By using a description of the politics of evaluating systemic…

The Colorado Department of Education undertook the establishment of an educational quality database that would contain the information necessary for measuring the effects of various efforts at educational improvement. Five major planning concerns had to be resolved before the database itself could be established. First, it was determined that…