In the opening paper in this Special Edition I outlined the major issues that led to the establishment of "project e-scape". The project was intended to develop systems and approaches that enabled learners to build real-time web-based portfolios of their performance (initially) in design & technology and additionally to build systems…

The paper describes a study conducted to explicate the multiple theories underlying Chile's national teacher evaluation program. These theories will serve as the basis for evaluating the intended consequences of this evaluation system, while not losing sight of emerging unintended consequences. We first analyzed legal and policy documents and then…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

Describes educational assessment in Singapore and discusses changes planned to focus assessment on more real-life situations while taking into account research on learning and critical thinking. (SLD)

Uses a description of large-scale collaborative portfolio assessment in the secondary school system in England as a means of seeing the American system and the recent reform efforts in comparative perspective. (RS)

Based on the FairTest perspective, this paper argues that the United States does not need a national test to measure progress toward the nation's educational goals and that such a test would have adverse impacts on low-income and minority students. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) should remain an indicator system but should…

Reviews problems with the current movement to use national standards and performance assessment to reform education and the impact of the standards on students with disabilities. The characteristics of standards, as they are currently being employed, are discussed, along with issues related to measurement, reliability, and validity. (Author/CR)

This digest examines issues concerning performance assessment of students receiving special education services. Issues addressed are: (1) need to infuse performance assessment into national programs including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS); (2) current lack of inclusion of…

The scoring method that will be applied in the current 12th-grade science assessment project of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Educational Research and Assessment is described. The method, "graded mark-point" scoring, is modeled after procedures developed by P. Tamir for use in the performance exercises of the Israeli…

This report presents a plan for an Educational Assessment and Accountability System for Hawaii. The purpose of this plan is to provide an analytical as well as a descriptive account of the condition of public education in Hawaii. It is meant to be a vehicle to provide the means by which educational outcomes can be examined in light of contextual…

This booklet examines national and state educational reform in the 1990s, noting the ways in which performance assessment is being presented as a mechanism of reform. Three reform initiatives are examined: national education goals, standards, and reform legislation. In conjunction with these reform movements, new methods of assessment are being…

This document argues that current efforts to establish a national test to measure progress toward the nation's educational goals will inhibit, rather than advance, educational reform. Proponents of a national test have asked for single, primarily multiple-choice tests, or for performance assessments to measure progress toward the nation's…

Key pieces of information that are currently available and relevant to setting targets for achievement are organized to help inform goal setting. These include levels of academic proficiency during elementary school, middle school, and high school; rates of high school completion; and levels of literacy of young adults. Much of the information is…

Several leaders in education have concluded that the United States should have some form of national achievement testing. Such tests are proposed as part of the "America 2000" education strategy. Believing that the experience of other countries will be useful to educators, policymakers, and concerned citizens, the National Endowment for…

This discussion paper is intended to inform the further development of the National Research and Evaluation Strategy (NRES) by strengthening its focus on evaluation in Australian vocational education and training (VET). Chapter 1 discusses the implications for the role of evaluation that changes in VET have caused in the past decade. Chapter 2…