Based on the findings of a 1998 conference on the new assessment and accountability requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this report discusses critical issues that surround the assessment provisions included in the 1997 IDEA amendments and contains recommendations related to state and district-wide assessments…

This report discusses the findings of a study that compared identified desirable characteristics of state accountability reports with 20 accountability reports generated by 7 states. Desirable characteristics included (1) clarity (the intended audience, statements of purpose, a description of the population being reported on and the states'…

This book reviews alternative assessment. Suggestions include portfolios, interviews, observations, journals, and tests utilizing various rubrics. This book contains suggestions and materials that teachers can use to assess students' progress in problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Many performance tasks and problem-specific rubrics for…

This paper reports on a two-year study conducted to evaluate cooperative learning or "group work" learning models in three courses at an Asian university. Data collection methods included a paired pre/post survey of learners, paired observations (early and late) of groups involved in assigned tasks, and two rounds of one-on-one…

This report examines the potential of adaptive testing, two-stage testing in particular, for improving the data quality of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Following a discussion of the rationale for adaptive testing in assessment and a review of previous studies of two-stage testing, this report describes a 1993 Ohio field…

This book introduces the issues involved in the education of bilingual students and the role that classroom assessment plays in their school experiences. After summarizing what research tells educators, the book provides case studies of a group of highly skilled teachers assessing bilingual children. These stories capture the intricacies of…

Since 1990, a long-term study has been following the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in 21 schools in 4 rural school districts. This publication summarizes study findings through 1995. Findings across KERA strands suggest that reform would have been unlikely without KERA's extra funding, used to increase teacher…

This conference proceedings volume for PME-NA-XIX contains a total of 87 reports: one plenary session report; 39 research reports; 20 short oral reports; 25 poster session reports; and two discussion group reports. Only the plenary and research reports are full reports; the others are generally one-page abstracts. The full reports include: (1)…

This report analyzes the difficulties encountered in the transformation of education in the Czech Republic and identifies change in policies and structures that could stimulate further reform in the needed directions. The book contains two parts with 15 chapters. Part 1 describes the development of education since the political change as rapid and…

Teachers' reactions to the administration and scoring of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests (MSPAP) were studied, focusing on their direct and indirect exposure to tasks and evaluative criteria through the experience of scoring the MSPAP. Since its inception in 1991, the MSPAP has been scored in-state by certified teachers…

Summaries of special provisions and ratified bills are presented in this report on educational legislation conducted by the 1990 session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Contents include legislation pertaining to education budget expansions and reductions and summaries of special provisions and ratified bills. Legislative outcomes include…

This paper presents findings of an analysis of the 1989-90 mathematics and reading portions of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and of perceptions of special education teachers participating in the MEAP. Noted are the purpose of the MEAP and exclusion for students who: (1) receive more than half their reading/English instruction…

Based on interviews with state personnel and a review of state documents, this report summarizes activities by the states in assessment of educational outcomes for students with disabilities. The report is divided into six sections addressing: (1) state contexts; (2) special education federally reported data; (3) state assessment of outcomes; (4)…

The Maryland Community College Program Evaluation System is based on a quantitative review of community college program information by the State Board for Community Colleges and a subsequent qualitative assessment conducted by the individual community colleges in response to specific questions raised by the board. This document first presents the…

The scoring method that will be applied in the current 12th-grade science assessment project of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Educational Research and Assessment is described. The method, "graded mark-point" scoring, is modeled after procedures developed by P. Tamir for use in the performance exercises of the Israeli…