Presents recommendations of a national panel of teachers, parents, principals, and community partners for policy changes in the following areas: family-school-community collaboration, partnership development, leadership development, standards and assessments, school accountability, school-to-work transitions, and welfare-to-work transitions. (SK)

Summarizes recommendations generated in six workshops along several themes, including the need to redefine school readiness; expand the role of schools and teachers; more fully integrate the growing cultural diversity of our population into the learning equation; and develop new readiness assessment instruments. The specific recommendations are…

Educational assessment concerns inference about student knowledge, skills, and accomplishments. Test theory has evolved in part to address questions of weight, coverage, and import of data. Resulting concepts and techniques can be viewed as applications of more general principles for inference in the presence of uncertainty. (SLD)

Diagnostic assessment combining cognitive science and psychometrics, cognitively diagnostic assessment (CDA), is characterized in terms of the intended use of the assessment and methods of developing and evaluating assessments. Societal trends motivating the development of CDA and efforts to develop a five-step methodology for CDA are outlined.…

This special issue demonstrates the symmetry and rigor of probabilistic conjoint measurement in practical applications in education and other human sciences. Following the opening chapter introducing the theory, other chapters focus on conjoint measurement in testing and student evaluation, standard setting, and the study of behavior and attitude.…

The implications for educational and employment testing of recent measurement, social, and policy issues are compared and contrasted. Changes are proposed relative to technical conceptualization of assessment, an increased focus on performance-based evaluation, and expanded expectations and uses of assessment. (SLD)

Describes problems associated with assessment and evaluation of problem-solving intervention in inner-city high school. Delineates factors related to assessment concerns. Offers recommendations for training including increased frequency and intensity of sessions, diversifying procedures, encouraging cultural sensitivity in trainers, and working…

Describes Assessment of Basic Competencies (ABC), a methodology for measuring writing, arithmetic, and selected life skills that is simple, inexpensive, and easy to reproduce. Provides results of a pilot implementation of ABC among 2,100 children in Bangladesh between the ages of 11 and 12. (35 citations) (MAB)

Effects of using different combinations of internal and external matching variables were examined using a generalized Mantel-Haenszel statistic, a technique based on meta-analysis, and logistic discriminant function analysis with data from a writing assessment for over 4,200 8th graders. Results did not support use of an external matching…

This article reviews the literature addressing uses of the American College Testing College Outcome Measures Program (ACT COMP), the most frequently used standardized measure of cognitive general education outcomes. It concludes that worthwhile evaluations of ACT COMP uses require well-crafted general education program evaluations. Recommendations…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) uses item response theory (IRT) based scaling methods to summarize information in complex data sets. The necessity of global scores or more detailed subscores, creation of developmental scales for different ages, and use of scale anchoring for scale interpretation are discussed. (SLD)

Several issues related to the design and reporting of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed in the context of current expectations for the NAEP and its origins. These issues include: (1) content coverage and format; (2) estimation procedures; and (3) reporting problems. (SLD)

Describes how Winnipeg public schools use an educational indicator system, including computer mapping graphics, to present indicator data to educational policymakers. Discusses issues and problems in the development and use of educational indicator systems, focusing on the relative importance of educational inputs, processes, and outcomes. (SV)

Describes the author's methods to establish what students enrolled in an introductory biology course for nonmajors know about biology prior to instruction. The project also compared preinstructional knowledge to postinstructional knowledge. Beginning students knew the least about plant transport/chemical control and cellular metabolism. Students…

Johnson County (Kansas) Community College assesses vocational programs in terms of (1) accomplishment of objectives; (2) student opinions of services; (3) appropriate employment; (4) employer satisfaction with student skills; and (5) responsiveness to local labor market and economic development needs. (SK)