School psychologists spend between 40-60% of their time in assessment activities. Methods for improving the diagnostic process are addressed in this paper. Techniques mentioned to improve the process include the actuarial method, the multitrait multimethod approach to multifactored assessment, and direct instruction in reasoning and decision…

This paper outlines the origins and development of the European Community Educational Indicators Project that began in 1992. It reviews past literature relating to the various definitions of an indicator that have been used and the conceptual models that have been adopted. A description of the objectives of the project is followed by an analysis…

This document is the U.S. Department of Education's first report to Congress on the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. It includes a brief history of the 1994 law, a description of how states and school districts are using their Goals 2000 money, a look at how the program is helping to reshape the department's technical-assistance effort, and a…

The spring of 1995 brought the onus of assessment to the Department of Communication Arts at Ohio Northern University (ONU). Often seen as a painful process, departmental assessments can become productive endeavors. Although, as a private institution, ONU is not subject to the dictates for assessment from the State Board of Education, assessment…

Five interrelated papers that explore the theme of validity within the context of cross-national assessments are grouped in this collection. These papers were presented at a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. These papers draw on data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).…

In May 1997, the Maine Legislature passed a comprehensive document that delineated expected educational outcomes for students, known as the Learning Results. This paper describes the components and philosophy of Maine's standards-development process. The Learning Results are based on Peter Senge's system model, which asserts that adoption of a new…

This publication is the result of a research and development project that involved the development of formative teacher evaluation plans at three sites: Guilford County Schools, Greensboro (North Carolina); Richland School District 2, Columbia (South Carolina); and Surry County Schools, Dobson (North Carolina). The publication is intended as a…

This bibliography includes papers about grading and reporting, sample report card formats, training materials on grading and reporting, and first-person narratives from educators who have tried to reform the ways they grade students. The first section of this annotated bibliography is a listing of the articles in alphabetical order by primary…

There is, among some groups in America today, a sense of urgency about educational reform. This publication summarizes the proceedings of the 1996 National Education Summit held in Palisades, New York. Governors and business, education, and community leaders met to initiate a national effort to establish high academic standards, assessment, and…

A study was conducted to identify factors affecting student performance on the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), a state-mandated measure designed to assess students' basic skills and competencies. TASP and Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET) scores were analyzed for 328 academic track students from 6 community colleges in…

This exploration of evaluation strategies for systemic educational reform considers whether there is a way to design an assessment and delivery system that can accomplish the goals of the total educational process. A basic question that must be addressed in systemic reform is the role of education in the socialization processes of society. Beyond…

This book examines the American and British perspectives of effective schools to answer the following questions: How effective have schools been? Are they effective now? How do we know? and What do we mean by "effective schools"? The book analyzes the changes and reasons for the changes in ways in which schools have been considered…

This paper explores current Colorado postsecondary academic assessment and accountability efforts and offers a framework for decision-making about how to alter or enhance those efforts. The paper makes a distinction between assessment and accountability efforts from the statewide perspective. Assessment is defined as the use of measurement…

The "Writing What You Read" (WWYR) rubric was designed for large-scale assessments, and differs from most narrative rubrics in its narrative-specific content and its developmental framework. The rubric contains five analytic subscales for theme, character, setting, plot, and communication, and a sixth holistic scale for overall…

The search for techniques to increase the effort that learners invest in video-based instruction has been hindered by the limitations of the instruments used to assess the construct of mental effort. Several researchers have noted the confusion of terms in the field that refer to the cognitive resources devoted to processing the stimulus. In this…