At one of a series of hearings on H.R. 6, the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1993, several experts discussed issues related to national assessment, assessment in Chapter 1, and state efforts to develop new forms of assessment. Eleanor Chelimsky, Assistant Comptroller General for Program Evaluation and Methodology of the General…

The research evidence supporting current beliefs in testing is summarized, and critical qualities that good assessment should exemplify and the current state of the research knowledge on how to produce good assessment are reviewed. Research has demonstrated the difficulties of achieving meaningful improvement in schools and the shortcomings of…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act legislated by the 1990 General Assembly created a high-stakes school performance accountability system to monitor the progress of implementation. One major component of the accountability system is a schedule of consequences designed to reward those schools making sufficient progress in improving student…

The effect of testing accommodations, such as extra time, oral reading of the assessment, or small group testing, on the participation and performance levels of limited-English-proficient students (LEP) on the Rhode Island Grade 4 Mathematics Performance Assessment was studied. A pilot study was conducted with 22 classes of students to provide…

The assessment process in whole language classrooms in the Honolulu (Hawaii) School District is described. The development of alternative measures based on actual student performances was a natural outcome of the teachers' training and implementation of a holistic education/whole language program. Multiple and multidimensional assessment emerged…

This review analyzes traditional standardized assessment practices to determine if they recognize cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and disability differences. It then examines the extent to which these assessment practices are being used in transition for decision-making and predicting post-school outcomes. The review begins with a historical…

In 1992 the Utah State Office of Education initiated a review of recent literature on performance assessment as a step in establishing the foundation of the Utah State Core Curriculum Performance Assessment Program. Profiles Corporation conducted the review of the literature and contacted educators in all 50 states regarding the current state of…

One educational change that is beginning to take hold is the use of alternative ways of testing and assessment, often referred to as authentic assessment. Advocates of authentic assessment believe that conventional testing is distorting educational goals, while authentic assessment can foster good educational practices. In fact, many educators…

A comprehensive overview of the current state of student assessment and a glimpse of the extent of student assessment in New York State (NYS), throughout the nation, and in foreign countries are provided. Background on existing testing programs in NYS and the assessment components of "A New Compact for Learning," a set of proposals from…

This report describes a project to develop more effective types of assessment in high school classes. The targeted population was high school students in two different middle-class communities in the northern suburbs of Chicago (Illinois). One site in a very stable, homogeneous community, predominantly white, contains 1,155 students. The other…

This book is designed for students taking a first course in classroom assessment and measurement. It shows how assessment principles apply to the full range of teacher decision making and not just the formal evaluation of student learning. The book is organized in a way that follows the natural progression of teachers' decision making, from…

Educators are beginning to look at authentic assessment as a valid alternative to standardized tests and traditional objective tests. Although authentic assessment means different things to different people, it is understood to focus on whether or not students can use the skills and strategies they have learned and apply them in appropriate…

The College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) and its role in an era when standardized testing is being questioned and authentic assessment is championed are discussed. Authentic assessment should not mean discarding measurement expertise and existing technology. It is an approach to measuring the quality and level of performance that uses real…

Traditional standardized tests of basic skills are no longer considered meaningful by many leading authorities in educational measurement. Alternative approaches are not yet fully developed, although many efforts are being made. This paper explores the issues surrounding student assessment in the context of existing and evolving state practices,…

Student learning is the bottom line for nearly all efforts to establish a national test system. Major efforts in this area are summarized in this paper. The various efforts seem to move ahead independently, but some common ideas include: (1) creating a national assessment system rather than a single test; (2) developing more than multiple-choice…