Although Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a matter of global importance, the requirements and needs of people differ according to their regional circumstances. (Not only) in Germany--in keeping with the increasingly international focus of "output" evaluations--one dominant educational debate has centred on effective ways of…

The National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP) have been conducting research and engaging in other activities to pull together a full view of the issues and potential solutions for developing reading assessments that are fully accessible and produce valid results for students with disabilities. To introduce this topic, the assumptions…

The Chilean national learning outcome assessment system (Sistema de Medicion de Calidad de la Educacion, SIMCE) has carried out census-based assessments since 1988 and publishes the results at both the national and school levels. During its 20 years of existence, SIMCE has experienced changes in its institutional framework, objectives,…

As educators, we need to stop fearing data and embrace its power. This article discusses how classroom teachers can design, implement, and analyze longitudinal assessments to diagnose issues related to student achievement and meet the demands of our evolving data-driven educational culture. Practical advice on exam production and data analysis…

A simultaneous equating of four new test forms to each other and to one previous form was accomplished through a complex design incorporating seven separate equating links. Each new form was linked to the reference form by four different paths, and each path produced a different score conversion. The procedure used to resolve these inconsistencies…

The sub-prime financial crisis exposed weaknesses in the financial risk management of several prominent firms. A deficient risk management is mainly attributed to the lack of integration of finance with other business disciplines. In this paper, we describe a tested implementation of a cross-functional project that improves students' understanding…

This purpose of this investigation was to examine the level of training and perceptions regarding reading assessment by elementary teachers in a suburban school district. The teachers were given an on-line survey to complete in the spring of 2011. While the response rate to the survey was fairly low, the teachers who did respond indicated that …

As an outgrowth of the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, districts are increasingly implementing "interim" or "benchmark" assessments. This report investigates various stakeholders' original purposes in adopting interim or benchmark assessments, ensuing implementation efforts, and actual assessment…

This publication presents estimates of apprentice and trainee activity in Australia for the December quarter 2010. The figures in this publication are derived from the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection no.67 (March 2011 estimates). The most recent figures in this publication are estimated (those for training activity from the June quarter…

One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that has gained prominence as a policy focus only in the last several years is the requirement that poor and minority children be served by highly qualified teachers to no less a degree than other, more affluent children. Under the Obama administration, the focus on "highly qualified"…

This forum provided an overview of competency-based pathways to education and described programs that have successfully utilized these pathways to move all students to success in high school and beyond. Speakers highlighted how innovative learning environments that base student advancement upon mastery of measurable learning objectives have been…

The small sultanate of Brunei, located on the island of Borneo in the South China Sea, introduced bilingual education shortly after independence. As a consequence, Brunei's Ministry of Education outsourced much of its English language teaching requirements to qualified expatriate teachers. Despite over 25 years of systemic English language…

With growing evidence that human capital investment is more efficiently spent on younger children coupled with wide variation in preschool access across states, this article uses a neoliberal approach to examine the potential social costs and benefits that could accrue should the United States decide to implement a centralized preschool…

This paper considers uses of technology in educational assessment from the perspective of innovation and support for teaching and learning. It examines assessment cases drawn from contexts that include large-scale testing programs as well as classroom-based programs, and attempts that have been made to harness the power of technology to provide…

The success of the United States in the 21st century will depend on the ideas and skills of its population. These have always been the nation's most important assets. As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of these national assets will be determined by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…