Background/Context:Policy discussions in the U.S. and abroad have become increasingly studded with reference to the results of international tests like PISA. Unlike most assessments, PISA is not designed to measure whether students have mastered a particular school curriculum but rather provide a measure of students' ability to meet future…

Using the nationally representative, cohort-based data of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:02), this study employs multiple regression to examine the effects of exit exams on student achievement and school completion. This study finds that exit exams as a whole do not have substantial effects on student achievement in mathematics,…

This paper analyzes the influence of three different learning paradigms for learning literacy--formalist, cognitive-processing, and literacy practices--on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. It argues that the Common Core State Standards are based largely on a formalist paradigm as evident in the emphasis on teaching text…

For most high school non-completers, the GED[R] (General Educational Development) credential is the bridge to postsecondary education, but little is known about how successfully they could make that transition and whether their participation shifts across time. The American Council on Education (ACE) has begun a three-year longitudinal study to…

For most high school non-completers, the GED[R] credential is the bridge to postsecondary education, but little is known about how successfully they could make that transition and whether their participation shifts across time. The American Council on Education (ACE) has begun a three-year longitudinal study to understand the effect of the GED…

The General Educational Development (GED) Tests are widely used to certify a high school level of academic knowledge and skills. The popularity and profound influence of the GED Tests have elicited numerous studies on the outcomes of obtaining a GED credential. Most studies on labor market outcomes for GED credential recipients have targeted…

Argues against the inclusion of a writing sample as part of the GED examination. (AEA)

The purpose of the analyses reported in this paper was to compare performance on the GED (General Educational Development) Tests, U.S. edition, across three groups of examinees: (a) graduating high school seniors in the GED Tests U.S. 2001 norm group, (b) GED Tests candidates who took one or more tests in the U.S. in 2002-2004, and (c) GED Tests…

Free-response (FR) item formats, such as essay questions, are popular in educational assessment. The criticisms against FR items are that they are more expensive to score, take up more testing time, provide less content coverage, and are less reliable than multiple-choice (MC) items. For these reasons, FR items are often combined with MC items.…

The influx of veterans into higher education after World War II led to the development of a monumental system for testing and evaluation of prior learning through military service. The assumptions of the process continue to have implications for the assessment of adult life experience and its integration in college curricula. (SK)

This Policy Brief takes a first look at a newly identified national population of GED holders, who are compared with their counterparts who received a high school diploma as well as with their counterparts who have no high school credential. The focus of these comparisons is on long-term postsecondary education outcomes. Because these…

In this guide, transition is defined as the period of time when adolescents are moving into adulthood. This guide is designed to (a) help youth and the adults who work with them understand the role of assessment in transition and (b) describe ways to collect and use data that will lead to informed choices based on accurate assessment of each…

This manual examines components of a non-traditional adult high school program. It is intended to aid districts interested in establishing similar programs. The first of five parts defines the role of the weekend non-traditional high school as designed to meet the needs of undereducated adults who are unable to participate in evening high school…

This annual report is designed to assess the efforts of Tennessee's State Board of Education and Higher Education Commission, to provide an overview of the challenges and prospects for public education in Tennessee, and to present a statement on educational plans and goals for the future. The report outlines 15 improvement initiatives for…