This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Using National Benchmarking Data to Improve Student Learning in Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College (Marc A. Harris); (2) Mutually Dependent Outcomes: Using Assessment to Improve First-Year Retention and Student Learning (Alan Bearman and Elaine Lewis); (3) Emergent…

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the reliabilities of cumulative college grade point averages (GPAs), estimated for unweighted and weighted, one-semester, 1-year, 2-year, and 4-year GPAs. Using cumulative GPAs for a freshman class at a major university, we estimate internal consistency (coefficient alpha) reliabilities for…

Past research has examined the widening gender gaps in college expectations and enrollment in the United States in which more women than men expect to continue their education and enroll in postsecondary institutions. A discrepancy exists between students' expectations and their enrollment behavior: more students expect to attend college than…

Increased sophistication of data systems now allows for student achievement to be tracked and, in some states, linked to individual teachers. Further, rather than looking simply at student end-of-year achievement test scores in isolation, current statistical methods allow for analysis of student growth over time. These advances show promise for…

Michigan's school finance reform aimed primarily to improve the equity in funding across school districts. Ten years later, policymakers are turning their attention to the adequacy of education--ensuring that schools provide a desired level of learning and the necessary resources to support student achievement. However, defining what is adequate…