Discusses appropriate ways to prepare students for performance assessments and proposes a list of six guidelines for teaching to performance assessments. The focus is on elementary and secondary education. It is believed that these guidelines will help balance the domain and sample problem. (SLD)

Examines measurement concepts and assumptions traditionally used in educational assessment, using the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts assessment developed for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as a context. The use of numerical ratings in complex performance assessment is questioned. (SLD)

Several major types of environmental standards (design, performance, exposure, safety, and behavioral) are discussed, and their points of contact with educational standards are reviewed. Some areas of judgment are common to both standard-setting processes, and experiences in the environmental area can be extended to the educational arena. (SLD)

Describes some key policy dilemmas and challenges taking place in the U.S. academic profession. These issues derive from a complex array of demographic, economic, social, and technological developments that have caused major shifts in the areas of assessment and accountability, governance, power, faculty roles, and recruitment patterns. (SLD)

When records of achievement were introduced in Hillingdon (England) Adult and Continuing Education Service, 78% of adult students used them and some were motivated to persist because of them. Tutors found the increased emphasis on learning outcomes and assessment made their teaching more systematic, although their workload was increased. (SK)

Argues that the first and primary focus of assessment should be the learner and that student feedback on their learning process and the inclusion of any presentations, products, or exhibitions produced along the way are essential. The author presents personal experiences using this assessment practice involving an English class. (GR)

This editorial addresses issues of evaluating school effectiveness, especially in the United Kingdom, with emphasis on use of value-added approaches. It stresses the importance of having a good measure of pupils' prior attainment, the need for noting differences between and within schools, and the finding that most schools obtain results which are…

Value-added measures of school effectiveness are reviewed in relation to the British government's requirement for schools to publish raw examination results. A series of multilevel analyses of examination results found that most variation in pupil outcomes could be explained by pupil intake factors suggesting the greater importance of…

Variations in the rates, school types, and successful school strategies employed were evaluated with 5 cohorts of pupils passing through 34 secondary schools in 1 British local education agency. The study used a multilevel analytical model which found about one in seven schools improved rapidly over the five-year period, but that differences in…

Examines the implementation of educational assessment policy in the United States, England, and Wales from the perspectives of power, what educators need to learn, and legitimacy. Findings suggest that assessment policy is useful for promoting easily observable changes, but not for deep modifications of teaching practice. (SLD)

Studied the stability of rater severity over an extended rating period by applying multifaceted Rasch analysis to ratings of 16 raters of writing performances of 8,285 elementary school students. Findings cast doubt on the practice of using a single calibration of rate severity as the basis for adjustment of person measures. (SLD)

Asserts that general education revision committees are often unprepared for their task. Presents an analysis identifying four key issues confronting reformers--knowledge, student learning, faculty competence, and content--and describing how three models of general education (Great Books, Scholarly Discipline, and Effective Citizen) might respond…

Presents the responses of five people in the field of education (professors and assessment administrators) to the recently published position statement by the American Educational Research Association on high stakes testing in preK-12 education. The responses point out the contributions of this position statement and offer suggestions for…

Highlights recommendations of seven task groups of Maryland's Visionary Panel for Better Schools to align state and local educational systems to support teachers and students. The task groups covered accountability, achievement, assessment, leadership, learning, public support, and teacher quality. (PKP)

Describes meaning and six important features of local assessment systems in Maine. For example, assessments are administered across multiple grades. (PKP)