Background/Context: There is a deep and yawning chasm between the world of tests and testing practices as they ought to be and the actual tests and testing practices now imposed on American students, educators, and schools. That chasm of theory and practice is a function of the dominant paradigm of educational reform, with its theory of action…

Monitoring, evaluation, and quality assurance in their various forms are seen as being one of the foundation stones of high-quality education systems. De Grauwe, writing about "school supervision" in four African countries in 2001, linked the decline in the quality of basic education to the cut in resources for supervision and support.…

In this article we rethink validation within the complex contexts of high-stakes assessment. We begin by considering the utility of existing models for validation and argue that these models tend to overlook some of the complexities inherent to assessment use, including the multiple interpretations of assessment purposes and the potential…

The need for an independent mechanism that regulates, or audits, the testing enterprise is discussed along with a critique of current mechanisms for challenging a high-stakes test or its use and the need for independent auditing of the commercial test industry. Models for an auditing mechanism are reviewed. (SLD)

Uses of tests and assessments as key elements in 5 waves of educational reform during the past 50 years are reviewed. These waves include the role of tests in tracking and selection emphasized in the 1950s, the use of tests for program accountability in the 1960s, minimum competency testing programs of the 1970s, school and district accountability…

Proposed an accountably model that addresses the challenges of allowing school districts to choose the specific strategies they use to measure student performance and evaluated this model using data from multiple sources for all school districts in Florida. Findings identify three strategies that would be useful for this type of accountability…

Kentucky has been implementing test-based accountability for almost a decade, making it a good site for studying the effects of the milepost testing model. In 1996, a study was undertaken of the impact of standards-based assessment on classroom practices in Kentucky. Kentucky teachers (n=365) were surveyed about their classroom practices and other…

Tennessee has adopted a model of educational accountability called the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). The model attempts to measure district, school, and teacher effects on student academic gains, rather than emphasizing achievement scores at a single time, using data generated by a standardized test, the Tennessee Comprehensive…

A preliminary collaborative model is presented for the restructuring of the San Diego (California) city schools to implement diverse forms of assessment. It is assumed that collaboration among program evaluation, curriculum, and classroom teachers can foster reforms. Central office staff can enable and facilitate the implementation of different…

This report describes and compares the inclusive assessment and accountability systems of Maryland and Kentucky, with a focus on components, scoring methods, reporting practices, data use, participation of students with disabilities, testing accommodations, and implementation considerations (including cost and training issues). Maryland and…

Options are presented for accountability in Chapter 1 schools and identification of low-performing schools. Two options are suggested that could move Chapter 1 toward more local control or toward more national control. In either case, the shortcomings of using normal curve equivalent gains on standardized tests should be recognized. (SLD)

The use of portfolio assessment in the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District and the future of portfolio assessment are discussed. A literature review is followed by a description of the development process that preceded the Chapter 1 portfolio assessment of the Dallas schools. Portfolio results are then compared to the standardized measures…

At one of a series of hearings on H.R. 6, the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1993, several experts discussed issues related to national assessment, assessment in Chapter 1, and state efforts to develop new forms of assessment. Eleanor Chelimsky, Assistant Comptroller General for Program Evaluation and Methodology of the General…

The thought of Samuel Messick has influenced language testing in 2 main ways: in proposing a new understanding of how inferences made based on tests must be challenged, and in drawing attention to the consequences of test use. The former has had a powerful impact on language-testing research, most notably in Bachman's work on validity and the…

Distinct multiple regression models are discussed, along with issues and problems related to their application to the practical problem of identifying effective schools. Statistical results obtained from the application of each model are discussed. The first model was implemented in 1984, and the second in 1992. In 1984, it was decided to identify…