One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that has gained prominence as a policy focus only in the last several years is the requirement that poor and minority children be served by highly qualified teachers to no less a degree than other, more affluent children. Under the Obama administration, the focus on "highly qualified"…

Explore successful models of intervention. No Child Left Behind has set the high expectation that every child meet grade level expectations. This publication synthesizes the research on intervention programs and best practices related to mathematical instructional pedagogy and differentiation to assist teachers, schools, and school districts in…

Examines the purposes of large-scale assessment programs, outlines the dangers and benefits of these assessments, considers the research evidence about the consequences of assessment, discusses how to evaluate assessment quality, and presents some ideas about the variables that influence the probabilities for good and bad assessment. (SLD)

This document analyzes the Virginia Community College population participation rates in the Fall 2002. The population estimates are based on the U.S. census Bureau 2000 counts and average annual change rates. The participation rate equals headcount as a percentage of population. The results of the study are divided into the following five…

A statewide effort was conducted in Kentucky to design a longitudinal assessment of tech prep, an educational reform strategy for high schools. Construction of the evaluation design included consideration of quantitative and qualitative data for school programmatic decisions, as well as funding accountability requirements at the district and state…

Five articles in this special issue present the approaches to accountability found in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland, provinces that represent 85% of all Canadian elementary and secondary school students. The articles are then discussed by representatives of four national Canadian educational associations. (SLD)

This special double issue focuses on the issue of alternative assessment and its place in educational reform. "Alternative Assessment: A National Perspective" (T. Stefonek) emphasizes that the fundamental purposes of new assessment methods are grounded in educational goals, meaningful outcomes, and curricular and instructional programs…

A statewide career education needs assessment was done in Tennessee by surveying all superintendents and samples of principals, teachers, and community leaders. State employment security data and Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) scores for a sample of the state's ninth graders were secondary information sources. The primary conclusion was that the…

This paper presents research findings to help policymakers understand and select various options for holding schools accountable for their performance and to help them devise a multistrategy accountability system. However, it does not recommend one system over another, since a given accountability option must be compatible and adapted to…

The document discusses the decrease of student scores on the citizenship section of the statewide Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment (EQA). The document presents an overview of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education goals, describes behaviors that EQA measures, and provides sample questions for fifth, eighth, and eleventh-grade…

In the initial article by Edward Roeber, performance assessment is defined as an exercise in which the student demonstrates specific skills and competencies rather than selecting one of several predetermined answers to an exercise. Such as assessment contains four components: (1) a reason for the assessment; (2) a particular peformance to be…

Because linkages between dissemination and the impact assessment systems are necessary to the effective implementation of research and development activities in the area of vocational education, the Department of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education of the Illinois State Board of Education and staff from the University of Illinois will…

Discussed and compared are mathematics competencies as prescribed in grades 1-6 for seven state and local school districts utilizing the descriptive method characteristic of the Competency Based Education (CBE) movement. General comments on the historical background of the minimum competency trend and its distinguishing characteristics in various…

The utilization of state educational assessment information at local, state, and national levels for program evaluation, resource allocation, and research purposes is examined. The author creates a structure for researching, studying, and describing the outcomes of state assessment programs and illustrates each function with examples drawn from…

Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA), as mandated by the Kansas State Board of Education, requires schools to document student learning through multiple assessment strategies and requires students to participate in state-developed assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. The Kansas National Education Association has joined…