This report notes that studies dating back to 1906 find that children score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do in the Spring when schools close. Summer programs that address the needs of the whole child seem to be most successful at boosting academic achievement, self-esteem, and confidence. They also motivate…

This study aims to describe in detail the linguistic skills of a large group of SLI participants. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of age-related effects on their linguistic performance and to whether a linguistic assessment of a narrative task can capture language impairments that might not be adequately pointed out by standardized…

Although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) might have left an impression that only standardized tests and adequate yearly progress (AYP) mattered on the general public, the frustration over the narrow curricular focus also has created an opportunity in the education-policy realm, sparking conversations on what it takes to educate the whole child. This…

Classroom tests from nine eighth-grade mathematics teachers were collected from the 2003-04 and 2005-06 school years. These years represent one school year prior to the eighth-grade Ohio Achievement Test (OAT) in mathematics being implemented and the year after the eighth-grade OAT in mathematics was implemented, respectively. In addition,…

This article illustrates the use of an explanatory item response modeling (EIRM) approach in the context of measuring group differences in science achievement. The distinction between item response models and EIRMs, recently elaborated by De Boeck and Wilson (2004), is presented within the statistical framework of generalized linear mixed models.…

Intelligibility has been widely regarded as an appropriate goal for second language pronunciation teaching. Yet there is no universally accepted definition of intelligibility, nor any field-wide consensus on the best way to measure it. Further, there is little empirical evidence to suggest which pronunciation features are crucial for…

This study investigated the technical features of six potential progress-monitoring measures in mathematics appropriate for use at the middle school level, including two commercially available measures for sixth-grade mathematics, two measures used in previous middle school studies, and two new measures of numeracy concepts. Five hundred…

School reform efforts across the US have focused on creating systems in which all students are expected to achieve to high standards. To ensure that students reach those standards and to document what students know and can do, schools collect assessment information on students' academic achievement. More information is needed, however, to find out…

Several years ago, the state of South Carolina turned to experts in early childhood education to address the school readiness issue for its K-2 schools. Rather than asking, "Is this child ready for school?," the state created a program assessment system that reframed the question of school readiness by asking, "Is this school ready…

More and more, data from standardized assessments are being used to make instructional decisions for struggling middle school readers. Administrators must stop spending money on "silver-bullet" curriculum programs and start spending money on training opportunities that will lead to autonomy and creativity in the classroom. In this article, the…

We examined the technical adequacy of writing progress measures as indicators of success on state standards tests. Tenth-grade students wrote for 10 min, marking their samples at 3, 5, and 7 min. Samples were scored for words written, words spelled correctly, and correct and correct minus incorrect word sequences. The number of correct minus…

Over the past 6 years, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have influenced the theory and practice of evaluation. In 2006, Robin Miller, with the help of Christian Coryn of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU), and Daniela Schroeter, also at the Center, sat down with widely regarded…

This case focuses on an urban middle school that has recently seen much improvement in the academic performance of its students and its reputation within the community. These positive changes, however, have come about largely because of what might be perceived as a narrow focus on standardized curricula, pedagogy, and assessment techniques.…

Kristin L. Main teaches the Ontario Literacy Course, an alternative course designed to support students who have failed the required standardized test for high school graduation. She sees the purpose of the class as giving students a chance to feel successful and helping them to see the practical value of purposeful communication and integrated…

THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TEST BATTERY CONSISTS OF TESTS TAKEN FROM THE PROJECT TALENT TEST BATTERY. TEST TITLES ARE (1) ABSTRACT REASONING, (2) MECHANICAL REASONING, (3) ARITHMETIC REASONING, (4) VISUALIZATION IN TWO DIMENSIONS, (5) VISUALIZATION IN THREE DIMENSIONS, (6) READING COMPREHENSION, (7) INFORMATION TESTS, AND (8) INTEREST INVENTORY.…