Large-scale performance assessment programs are a longstanding reform tool. However, standard setting can be a challenge for assessment programs that use primarily non-standardized assessments. The purpose of this paper is to extend this field of research by explaining the standard setting methodology applied to one more recent instantiation of a…

YoungStar is a program of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) created to improve the quality of child care for Wisconsin children. YoungStar is designed to: (1) Evaluate and rate the quality of care given by child care providers; (2) Help parents choose the best child care for their kids; (3) Support providers with tools and training to…

YoungStar is a program of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) created to improve the quality of child care for Wisconsin children. YoungStar is designed to: (1) Evaluate and rate the quality of care given by child care providers; (2) Help parents choose the best child care for their kids; (3) Support providers with tools and training to…

In this article we address the issue of consistency in standard setting in the context of an augmented state testing program. Information gained from the external NRT scores is used to help make an informed decision on the determination of cut scores on the state test. The consistency of cut scores on the CRT across grades is maintained by forcing…

The purpose of this article is to describe the process and development of English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards and assessment in Ohio and to discuss issues related to alignment. The article addresses the importance of alignment among standards, instruction, and assessment, as well as the effect of alignment on students' academic…

The bookmark standard-setting procedure is an item response theory-based method that is widely implemented in state testing programs. This study estimates standard errors for cut scores resulting from bookmark standard settings under a generalizability theory model and investigates the effects of different universes of generalization and error…

Various approaches to the professional development school (PDS)--each designed for its respective audience, mission, and purpose for engagement--have shaped the professional development school effort during the past 25 years. Central to these approaches is improving teacher quality in the service of student learning. This provides direction for…

In focusing on why and how standards might be incorporated into the evaluation process, two themes are explored: the extent to which the Evaluation Research Society (ERS) Standards differ from other recent standards-setting activities and their applicability to local and state-level evaluation efforts. (Author/LC)

Describes the procedures by which Kentucky's state assessment program synthesized results from three standard setting procedures (Contrasting Groups, Bookmark, and Jaeger-Mills) for the 2000 state assessment. Shows the value of using multiple standard-setting approaches to gather information from each. (SLD)

Each state is going to set its own education standards, but unless state leaders talk to each other, there are going to be huge unexplained differences in state performance standards for student achievement. What states say they want their students to be taught is quite similar, but they appear to have very different standards for what students…

This document contains the results of a standard setting conducted in January 2002 on the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) Science and Social Studies tests at grades 4 and 6. Each standard setting process entailed convening four groups, one for each grade level and content area, and each group met for 2 days. At the standard setting judges…

This Brief builds on the work of the National Association of State Boards of Education 1997 Study Group on State Assessment Systems by examining one of the state board actions that is most likely to capture the publics attention: setting cut scores on state assessments. This process involves a large measure of human judgment and politics and a…

This article features the Family Child Care Home Education Network (FCCHEN), a groundbreaking program operated by the Riverside County Office of Education's Division of Children and Family Services. The FCCHEN is a network of family child care homes located throughout the Coachella Valley that receive funding for subsidized child care through an…

This paper focuses on the formulation and adoption of content standards in California. The standards-setting process is examined through the theoretical lens of deliberative democracy in order to develop a better understanding of the process and to assess the extent to which the institutions charged with deciding what students should learn can act…

Nebraska, like most states in the U.S., is facing a critical shortage of skilled and employable workers. Business and industry want to grow in Nebraska and realize the road to ensuring success is a workforce possessing updated knowledge and skills that support the use of new technologies, as well as a necessary work ethic to be a dependable and…