Assessment

Assessment Systems
Reports, Articles & Editorials

Reports

All Tests Are Not Equal: Why States Need To Give
High-Quality Tests
Achieve, Inc. (2003)
As states scramble to expand testing to satisfy the No Child Left Behind Act and to confront historic budget shortfalls, Achieve and the National Center for Educational Accountability are urging them not to forego high-quality tests in the name of speed or affordability. The groups also set out 10 principles for states to uphold as they evaluate their existing tests or build news ones. (Requires free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

The Instructional Demands of Standards-Based Reform
American Federation of Teachers (2001)
This recent report from the AFT suggests that teachers need to know how to use classroom assessments to gauge whether students are meeting high standards and should revise instruction accordingly.

Education Assessment: A Primer
Association of American Publishers (2001)
The Association of American Publishers created this brochure in order to provide policymakers and the public with information about the role of testing, what tests can do, and how testing systems can be effectively designed, created, and administered. It also attempts to answer commonly asked questions about tests and testing.

Assessment and Accountability Across the 50 States
Consortium for Policy Research in Education (2001)
Across the U.S., policymakers have adopted accountability plans in response to concerns about student performance. How do they compare? How are they being supported? This policy brief explores the issues.

Reporting School Quality in Standards-Based
Accountability Systems
Robert L. Linn, CRESST (2001)
Given policymaker's and educator's plans to expand accountability, we need to develop better designs, evaluations, and redesigns of assessment and accountability systems. This policy brief from CRESST builds on the issues surrounding school accountability and reporting.

Position Statement on High-Stakes Testing in PreK-12 Education
American Educational Research Association (2000)
Is it fair to base life-altering decisions, such as high school graduation, on a single test score? According to the AERA, which crafted a position statement based on the 1999 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, this is an improper use of assessments. The statement is intended to act as a guide (and a caution) for policymakers and testing professionals alike.

Testing, Teaching and Learning: A Guide for States
Richard Elmore and Robert Rothman (1999)
While Title I has been in place since 1965, the authors believe that it has not been serving its intended purpose. In this book, Elmore and Rothman provide a guideline for attaining high standards for all students—the original goal of Title I. According to the book, the improvement of standards and assessments must come from motivated teachers who recognize the need to continually refine their teaching methods to meet the needs of their students.

Setting Higher Sights: A Need for More Demanding Assessments for U.S. Eight Graders
American Federation of Teachers (1998)
As American students progress through elementary school, they fall further and further below the international level of academic competency. This report compares U.S. and foreign mathematics assessments, and suggests that U.S. tests' low competency requirements may be part of the problem.

A Policymakers Guide to Standards-Led Assessments
CRESST and ECS (1997)
There is a growing need for new forms of assessment in schools. In this article, Robert Linn and Joan Herman argue that existing assessment forms, such as multiple choice tests, aren't very effective. Instead, they advocate assessments that are properly aligned with standards and curriculum—for example, eliciting oral responses from the student as a more efficient way of observing academic progress. While this may require more time and money, the authors feel that proper assessment would ultimately lead to higher academic standards.

Articles & Editorials

The Power of Testing
Matthew Gandal & Laura McGiffert (February 2003)
Just as medical tests help diagnose and treat patients, rigorous and meaningful education assessments can help ensure the academic health of all students.

The Test Mess
James Traub, The New York Times Magazine (April 2002)
The battle over standardized testing pits the good of the many against the good of the (powerful) few, challenging the very premises of our democratic thinking.

Testing Experts Develop New method of Presenting
Achievement Gap Data
Lynn Olson, Education Week (March 2002)
How do you describe the achievement gap in a word, let alone a single statistic? You can't. This article reviews a new report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress that examining the best methods achievement gap has been measured to date and how we can improve upon data collection and analysis by looking at whole groups of scores.

Kissing the Frog: How Teachers Can Transform Testing
American Federation of Teachers (2001)
This speech to the AFT's QuEST conference, from Mari Pearlman, vice president of the Educational Testing Service, challenges educators to revolutionaize education by becoming the standard bearers for good assessment systems that are valid and useful. Not only should teachers work to improve state testing systems that are punitive and narrow, they must also work to become assessment experts who can develop their own assessments to use in tailoring instruction and improving student achievement. (Requires free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

Test Prep
Georgia N. Alexakis, The Washington Monthly (March 2001)
Poor, urban school districts have the most to lose from state testing and accountability policies, but most resistance to these measures is found in rich suburban areas. This article looks at the Massachusetts experience to find out why.

Assessments and Accountability
Robert L. Linn, Educational Researcher (March 2000)
This article by assessment expert Robert Linn reviews 50 years of research and policy in regard to student testing. He raises serious issues about the impact, validity, and generalizability of reported gains in student achievement scores, and questions the use of tests in high-stakes accountability systems. The article concludes with suggestions for dealing with some of the most severe problems.

Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment
Paul Black & Dylan William, Phi Delta Kappan (Oct. 1998)
Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement. According to Paul Black and Dylan William, no stronger argument exists than the facts and data they present in their article.

Back to the Standards Homepage