Problems with performance assessment (PA) and multiple-choice tests (MCTs) are outlined, with reference to the literature on accountability. PA for individual teachers who should integrate their assessments with their instruction; PA as a supplement to more traditional examinations for licensure decisions; and some limited, experimental tryouts of…

The Board of Regents of South Dakota's public colleges and universities decided in 1984 to implement a Value-Added Testing program (an exit test required for graduation) modelled on the Northeast Missouri State University plan. The plan was intended to increase student learning, improve curricular design, and encourage excellent teaching.…

The Council of Chief State School Officers has raised some issues pertinent to the implementation of a national project to collect statistical indicators of academic achievement and to compare them across states. The United States Department of Education shares this concern, with an emphasis on sampling schools for a school level analysis which…

The growing interest in human resources development (HRD) is a response to the increasingly competitive business environment which, in turn, has been shaped by such forces as the emergence of global competition, the quickening pace of technological innovation and the reduction of federal regulations in some industries. This monograph seeks to…

This paper summarized contributors' ideas about evaluation as a field and where it is going. Topics discussed were qualitative versus quantitative debate; evaluation's purpose; professionalization; program failure; program development; evaluators as advocates; evaluation knowledge; evaluation expansion; and methodology and design. (SLD)

Focusing on educational measurement that suggests an action and has an outcome, 16 problem areas are defined and grouped into the following classes: (1) validity; (2) issues of statistical adjustment; (3) data insufficiencies; (4) other issues related to standardized testing and constructed responses; and (5) technical issues of psychometrics.…

Twenty parents/caregivers and 11 professional practitioners reported their perceptions of assessment practices for American-Indian/Alaska-Native children in early intervention programs. Perceptions of ecological validity, treatment validity, and social validity are interpreted in terms of the gap between current and "best" practices.…

Early identification of problem readers and appropriate interventions would reduce subsequent failure and would enhance reading skills. Screening instruments measure the risk/probability that reading problems will occur. In this article we discuss certain aspects with regard to the most important indices of screening measures: predictive accuracy,…

This article summarizes the findings of the National Research Council (NRC) report "On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness" and examines the reviews in middle grades mathematics undertaken by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The NRC report reviewed and assessed 147 key evaluations of 13 National Science Foundation-supported K-12 mathematics…

The importance of feedback as an aid to self-assessment is widely acknowledged. A common form of feedback that is used widely in e-learning is the use of model answers. However, model answers are deficient in many respects. In particular, the notion of a "model" answer implies the existence of a single correct answer applicable across multiple…

Using a system that monitors just the process of education does not guarantee positive student outcomes. What education needs is a consistent set of accountability procedures for all students. As educators take steps toward a new and inclusive accountability system, they need to look at: (1) possible alternative approaches to accountability; (2)…

This book addresses two problems common to school library media specialists: the lack of time to conduct evaluations, and the lack of knowledge on how and what to evaluate in the school media center. The book contains research and evaluation techniques and studies that have been conducted in school library media centers. Many study results are…

The combination of increasing demands for accountability and the desire to measure a variety of complex educational outcomes makes the use of performance assessment an essential addition to the tools used to profile student achievement. Performance assessment in education is valuable for student assessment and for the assessment of teacher and…

In fall, 1991, La Frontera Center, the Tucson Council for Alcohol and Drug Dependence, and the Community Organization for Drug Abuse Control were funded to carry out an educational program to reduce alcohol and other drug abuse in the Tucson, Arizona area. The resulting project, Pasos Adelante (Steps Forward), is an early intervention…

This document contains 15 chapters on various topics related to elementary science assessment. A comprehensive description of efforts to introduce alternatives to multiple-choice, paper and pencil tests to assess science learning is provided. The monograph includes an analysis of assessment issues, descriptions of current practice, and suggestions…