Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in…

This document describes the 1999-2002 College Action Plan for Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) (California). The plan consists of 14 goals and 40 objectives that specify the desired direction for all major instructional and service areas of the college. Goals include the following: (1) enhancing community knowledge and utilization of SBCC…

This is a report on a campus climate survey measuring Cypress Community College (California) students' general perception of the college campus and the services it provides. Students also were asked about their feelings of acceptance or belonging, as well as their satisfaction with the level of ethnic diversity present at the community college. A…

The collection of papers presented in this monograph provides an update on developments in assessment for counselors, practitioners, and researchers in all types of educational settings. The papers are grouped into five sections. Section 1, on emerging issues, includes topics on testing theories presently used, and some thoughts for the future.…

This research brief explores the extent to which teacher-designed assessments are authentic in inclusive secondary schools and how students with and without disabilities perform on these assessments. Data come from three high schools that are participating in a 5-year national study conducted by the Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform…

As more and more states and districts develop their alternate assessments for those students unable to participate in the regular assessment, they are faced with the challenge of setting standards for their alternate assessments. Despite the variability in alternate assessments currently developed, including checklists, structured and unstructured…

State assessment systems must address both technical and policy issues as assessments and accountability practices are developed and implemented. These technical and policy issues have been expanded from traditional large-scale assessment to new alternative assessment approaches required by law and developed in every state. The primary purpose of…

The federal Migrant Education Program provides supplemental instruction and other support services to migrant children. The program provides formula grants to states under Title I, Part C, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This document summarizes the data from a three-volume study, which examined how the program is helping migrant…

There was a time when virtually all students pursuing the master's degree were required to submit to and successfully complete comprehensive examinations, most of which featured both written and oral elements. In this more traditional period, the acquisition of the master's degree was in large part a qualifying ritual for admission to a Ph.D.…

This book provides a comprehensive overview of assessment used to support learning, and it makes this area accessible and understandable for a wise range of users. This unique text is a major source of practice-based theory on assessment for learning, a formative assessment to support individual development and motivate learners. Key areas covered…

The articles in this bibliography represent holdings of the Test Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in the area of assessment in school and classroom climate, student self-concept, student motivation to learn, and student attitude toward school. The annotation for each source includes title and author information and…

Assessment systems to measure high educational standards emerged as the major theme at the 1996 conference of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), "Moving Up to Complex Assessment." This feature article, providing a summation of the proceedings of the conference, reports that the…

Many school systems across the country promise a world-class education for their students. This book defines what a world-class elementary school is and provides guidance for those wishing to lead their schools to meet the standards. Chapter 1 introduces the definition of world-class schools and identifies 10 nations that represent the finest…

This book explores the practice of testing. Two postulates are assumed: that student assessment should improve performance, rather than just monitoring it, and that testing should be only a small facet of assessment. The first chapter, "Introduction: Assessment and the Morality of Testing," considers what assessment is and how it differs from…

This paper provides an extensive literature review and recommendations for authentic assessment, and then provides recommendations for administrators in order to implement authentic assessment in elementary schools. A lack of comfort, with the way in which standardized tests seems to dictate what teachers teach as part of the curriculum, was a…