All students confronted obstacles during the 2020 school year, but for students learning English, the year presented a distinct set of difficulties. Even as English Learner (EL) students shared in the common struggles around internet-based instruction, the tools to measure their progress in becoming proficient in English became largely unavailable…

Most states have developed or revised school accountability systems in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). While these systems include multiple indicators, to many stakeholders the outcome of central interest is the overall rating or classification produced for each school. These ratings are often used to identify schools that merit…

This report summarizes and further develops ideas discussed at a national working session held on May 23, 2014, to examine issues and options associated with initially classifying English learners (ELs). It is the third in a series of guidance papers intended to support states in large-scale assessment consortia that are expected to move toward a…

This "Practitioner's Guide to Growth Models," commissioned by the Technical Issues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) and Accountability Systems & Reporting (ASR), collaboratives of the "Council of Chief State School Officers," describes different ways to calculate student academic growth and to make judgments about the…

University rankings are having a profound effect on both higher education systems and individual universities. In this paper we outline these effects, discuss the desirable characteristics of a good ranking methodology and document existing practice, with an emphasis on the two main international rankings (Shanghai Jiao Tong and THES-QS). We take…

"Classification" and "ranking" are tools for comparing colleges and universities, albeit for different purposes. Although "classification" focuses on identifying similarities rather than ordering institutions, it is closely intertwined with "ranking", whether directly through its content, structure, and…

We look at some of the theoretical and methodological issues underlying international university ranking systems and, in particular, their conceptual connection with the idea of excellence. We then turn to a critical examination of the two best-known international university ranking systems--the "Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)" World…

Classification "rules" in expert and everyday discourse are usually deficient by formal standards, lacking explicit decision procedures and precise terms. The authors argue that a central function of such weak rules is to focus on perceptual learning rather than to provide definitions. In 5 experiments, transfer following learning of family…