The paradox of site-based school management with use of standardized tests or instructional management systems that restrict teacher choices was evident in one school district in North Carolina in which measurement of student success has centered on student performance on state-mandated tests. A study was conducted to see if students whose…

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 role and influence of mandated testing in educational reform are reviewed. Mandated testing refers to large-scale (districtwide or statewide) multiple-choice testing programs used for policy purposes of evaluation and accountability, which includes nationally normed standardized achievement tests and tests custom-developed to reflect state and…

The research evidence supporting current beliefs in testing is summarized, and critical qualities that good assessment should exemplify and the current state of the research knowledge on how to produce good assessment are reviewed. Research has demonstrated the difficulties of achieving meaningful improvement in schools and the shortcomings of…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act legislated by the 1990 General Assembly created a high-stakes school performance accountability system to monitor the progress of implementation. One major component of the accountability system is a schedule of consequences designed to reward those schools making sufficient progress in improving student…

The issue of a national assessment tool in the form of national testing has recently gained momentum. The expectation is that tough national tests would raise national standards and improve educational equity. The goals are ambitious ones and the stakes are particularly high for disadvantaged youth who currently experience the worst effects of…

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…

Despite the many limitations of standardized tests, schools use them to determine if children are ready for school, to group students for instruction, to diagnose learning disabilities and other handicaps, and to guide and control the curriculum and teaching methods. No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for important…

This fastback reference analyzes contrasting opinions about educational assessment and testing in the light of available evidence. The reform of student assessment is an essential component of the revitalization of American schools. Accountability issues relate to the proliferation of testing and the increasing use of high-stakes tests for policy…

The status of assessment in terms of federal policy, the social or economic climate related to education, the role of testing in counseling, assessment as an intervention in its own right, and assessment as it is affected by technology are important components of the context of issues and challenges related to assessment at the edge of the 21st…

State law requires that all certified professional personnel employed in Georgia school systems have their performance evaluated annually by trained evaluators. The Georgia School Counselor Evaluation Program (GSCEP) was designed to be used across all systems and schools for annual formative and summative evaluation purposes. The process used to…

Issues related to the Education Reform Bill of Ohio are discussed. Administration of norm-referenced achievement tests in reading, mathematics, language, and related school-ability tests is required for grades 4, 6, and 8 (effective by 1990) and grade 10 (effective by 1991). The reform bill specifies rewards and sanctions in addition to statewide…

Nine papers were presented at the 1986 Educational Testing Service Invitational Conference on outcomes assessment in higher education. The Award for Distinguished Service to Measurement was awarded to Frederic Kuder for development of the Kuder-Richardson 20 and KR-21 formulas for test reliability, the Kuder Preference Record, and the Kuder…

Classroom-based measures, including self-developed tests and tests provided with instructional materials, aid teachers far more than standardized tests. Yet administrators, researchers, and teacher educators emphasize the latter to the detriment of education. New research and training emphases, greater public awareness, and a resultant…

This report discusses the findings of a survey of the 50 states that investigated how state graduation requirements apply to students with limited English proficiency (LEP) and whether students with LEP receive a standard diploma upon completion of their studies or some type of modified exit document. Results found a minimum graduation requirement…