This report, based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of school districts in Common Core-adopting states, examines school districts' efforts to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The report addresses district leaders' views on the rigor of the CCSS and their impact on learning and instruction, progress on and…

Challenges encountered in developing and maintaining an extensive evaluation program at Ohio State University are retrospectively reconstructed. The setting, the history of program development, and the nature of the program are described as a backdrop for discussion of six issues with implications for program development. (SLD)

Discusses social studies and its critics; the struggle for the soul of social studies; fragmentation and national standards; proliferation of standards; and assessment in the national standards. Suggests that administrators and teachers responsible for curriculum development should carefully examine all standards documents as they plan for…

This paper addresses some of the concerns inherent in evaluating feminists' projects and focuses on three topics: (1) a discussion of some objections raised by feminists about traditional forms of assessment; (2) a description of the strengths and weaknesses of illuminative evaluation as an alternative approach to evaluate feminist programs; and…

Discusses three ways for teachers to affect standardized measures of student achievement: teach only students demographically predisposed to higher scores; cheat; or establish a challenging, integrative, and exploratory curriculum. (JPB)

This paper addresses the challenges and strategies of evaluating curricular reforms in secondary schools by presenting a case study of the College Board's Pacesetter Math course, a fourth level course that was entering its third year in 1995-96. The Pacesetter math course is intended to be an alternative to more traditional pre-calculus courses,…

Problems associated with evaluating the restructured curriculum and educational system implemented in Kenya in 1985 are reviewed. Most of the problems center around time constraints and the large numbers of students versus the small numbers of teachers and administrators. (SLD)

Drawing on recent research in brain development, the public schools district in Daviess County, Kentucky, has developed a comprehensive program with the purpose of increasing students' capacity for learning and achievement. The program called Graduation 2010 was conceived by educators and members of the community during 1997. The eight components,…

The chapters in this book address four major concerns in the field of curriculum evaluation. The first chapter focuses on the formative evaluation of educational programs, concentrating on the link between program development and formative evaluation. The second chapter--"Evaluating Curriculum Implementation"--presents a classification scheme for…

Recent developments for student assessment and national curriculum in England are presented in this paper. The first part offers an overview of the national curriculum, as established by the government-appointed Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT), which identified corresponding levels with statements of attainment. National curriculum…

Principal themes associated with assessment and evaluation as these constructs or concepts have evolved in relation to special education in England and Wales are discussed, concentrating on developments since 1978. Shortcomings of the proposed National Curriculum with regard to special needs students are discussed. (SLD)

This paper examines possible explanations for the fact that evaluation results are rarely used. Most explanatory factors for use of results in decision making mentioned in the literature have been clustered in three categories of variables. They concern: (1) the making of decisions about the practical problem; (2) the way in which evaluation is…

The Board of Regents of South Dakota's public colleges and universities decided in 1984 to implement a Value-Added Testing program (an exit test required for graduation) modelled on the Northeast Missouri State University plan. The plan was intended to increase student learning, improve curricular design, and encourage excellent teaching.…

The combination of increasing demands for accountability and the desire to measure a variety of complex educational outcomes makes the use of performance assessment an essential addition to the tools used to profile student achievement. Performance assessment in education is valuable for student assessment and for the assessment of teacher and…

Identifies 12 major trends in the field of education and technology. Topics discussed include school choice; integrating new technologies and the traditional curriculum; visual vs. logocentric curriculum; distance learning; problems with evaluation; increasing business pressure on public education; the impact of minority students; commercial…