Professional development practices in schools have been changing recently, particularly with the mandates regarding professional development through No Child Left Behind. In 2001, the National Staff Development Council revised its standards of professional development to shift thinking in this area and reflect the changing needs of schools,…

Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994 provides funds for schools with large concentrations of children from low-income families. A fundamental requirement is that children served by Title I funds must be educated according to the same academic standards as all other students. This handbook focuses on methods for developing…

The Nevada Department of Education implemented a standard setting study of the Pre-Professional Skills Tests. The tests constitute a secure test battery developed by the Educational Testing Service to assess basic proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics via three multiple-choice tests and a written essay test. The Nevada study, in the…

A qualitative case study involving five educational institutions assessed the use of competency testing as a prerequisite for high school graduation, criterion for admission into college, criterion for teacher certification, and statewide assessment tool. Focus was on persons and processes involved in setting educational standards associated with…

The Common European Framework describes language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening on a six-level scale. The Framework provides a common language with which to discuss students' progress. This report describes a study conducted with two panels of English language experts to map scores from four tests that collectively assess…

This instructional training package introduces practitioners to methods for developing, validating, using, and reporting criterion-referenced tests. It provides a comprehensive presentation of criterion-referenced testing technology. The package emphasizes the most recent substantive and technological advances in the field that are both important…

The National Reporting System (NRS) was developed to report the outcomes of English language, literacy and numeracy provision in Australia's vocational education and training and adult and community education sectors, and in labour market programs. Since its introduction, however, the NRS has been used as more than a reporting tool. It has also…

Through offering insight into different approaches to quality assurance, with input from those who provide leadership in post-secondary education in British Columbia and Canada, this project's goal is to recommend whether Canadian jurisdictions should consider a new quality assurance regime, and to provide potential new models to consider in that…

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is responsible for improving the form and use of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAGB is beginning to define achievement levels to state clearly what students should know and be able to do at key grades in school. This report creates a policy framework, definitions, and…

The 1992 achievement tests for the Alberta (Canada) public schools show what students in grades 3, 6, and 9 can do in social studies, language arts, and mathematics, respectively. Results are reported in terms of curriculum standards, achievement standards, and assessment standards. In June 1992, there were 41,696 students in grade 3, 37,837 in…

Consensus and visitation moderation are applied to Year 10 and Year 11 English and mathematics with the aim of achieving comparable standards across the Northern Territory (Australia). Additional aims are to provide professional support and inservice for teachers and to improve performance standards. Moderation involves meetings of teachers and…

In this final report of an 18-month series of projects designed to investigate the validity of the General Knowledge (GK) and Communications Skills (CS) tests of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) for North Carolina, highlights and major conclusions are summarized and appropriate standards of performance are recommended. Evidence was…

This document reports on the results of a three-year series of studies of the development and implementation of statewide pupil proficiency standards in New Jersey, set in response to the passage of Chapter 97, New Jersey Public Laws of 1976. The first section of the report summarizes a survey of statewide minimum pupil proficiency standards in…

Practices and policies regarding graded assessment in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia were examined. Data were collected through a literature review; focus groups involving approximately 120 stakeholders in 5 states; interviews with 49 representatives of registered training organizations (RTOs); and surveys of RTOs, students,…

This document, which is intended for use by adult literacy programs in Saskatchewan, Canada, consists of three questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed under the guidance of Saskatchewan's 11-member Good Practice Task Force to give adult literacy programs an opportunity to reflect on their current initiatives, identify their strengths,…