Since the passage of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, inclusion of all students with disabilities in accountability systems has been mandatory. By 2001, school personnel began to understand that alternate assessment needed to focus on students' performance on state standards, and nearly all states had created…

In 1998, the Kentucky legislature made adjustments to the assessment and accountability system established by the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 to create a new system, the Commonwealth Accountability and Testing System (CATS). The Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) are a component of CATS. KCCT assessments are given in grades 4, 5, 7, 8,…

This paper makes the case that mandated tests, such as those administered through a state's accountability system, can best meet the goal of curricular reform by making their domains of learning targets transparent to users. Test maps are proposed as an effective device to accomplish that goal. A test map describes the content of the test and how…

Alternate assessments provide a mechanism for students with complex disabilities to be included in assessment systems. An integral part of maximizing the benefits of assessing students is to include the results of alternate assessments in school accountability systems. This report addresses policy options for including the results of alternate…

This technical manual provides all major existing information about the technical characteristics of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). The assessment component of the Kentucky Education Reform Act Accountability System was in use between 1991-92 and 1993-94 and was referred to as Cycle One. Two sets of test…

This technical manual provides information about the technical characteristics of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS), the assessment component of the Kentucky Education Reform Act Accountability System. The time period covered is Accountability Cycle 2, which spanned the school years 1992-93 through 1995-96. Sections of…

This plan presents the procedures to be followed in the administration of the Florida College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) for the 1994-95 academic year. The document specifies the responsibilities of the Department of Education, the technical support contractor, and individual institutions. The plan does not include procedures needed in…

The accountability testing programs of many states have begun to make extensive use of constructed-response questions and to report test results in terms of percentages of students at various proficiency or performance levels. This paper describes the step-by-step procedures for two standard-setting methods recently used for the New Hampshire…

Explores issues of whose work is actually being evaluated when raters outside the classroom context make judgments about students based on work composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents. Data from an evaluation of a statewide assessment and a study of scoring elementary school writing portfolios illustrate the issues. (SLD)

The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching is working with the New York State Education Department to develop an assessment system that addresses both instructional and accountability concerns. The new system is intended to move the state to a system of performance assessments used in the service of ongoing teaching and…