Assessment and Accountability
Assessment As Feedback
This article makes the case for the role of clear and specific feedback as a key component of effective assessment practices. The author describes the difference between feedback and evaluation and discusses reasons why such feedback is often lacking in instruction. (New Horizons for Learning, 2004)
Author: Grant Wiggins
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Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards: Critical Considerations and Implications for Implementation
This document presents information about assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (a.k.a., 2% assessments for students with disabilities). More specifically, the document presents key information about 2% assessments, describes critical issues and considerations related to the development and implementation of 2% assessments, and presents examples of general approaches states have taken (or are taking) in the development and implementation of the 2% assessments. This document will be updated periodically to incorporate new information and research. (Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center, 2007)
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Balancing Local Assessment with Statewide Testing: Building a Program That Meets Student Needs
This knowledge brief makes the case for thoughtful district- or school-driven assessment systems that complement, and go beyond, what statewide testing systems are able to accomplish. It describes important attributes of model local assessment programs. Finally, it presents the necessary steps for building a local assessment program that will elicit information that is of value specifically to teachers, students, and parents and that is rarely available from state assessment programs. (WestEd, 2001)
Authors: Stanley Rabinowitz and Sri Ananda
Classroom Assessment Minute-by-Minute, Day-by-Day
Assessment for learning, as opposed to assessment of learning, requires educators to make a major shift—from quality control in learning to quality assurance, from assessing at the end of teaching to assessing while learning is still taking place. Five nonnegotiable strategies, described in the article, define the territory of assessment for learning. The authors apply their experience with teachers to illustrate classroom examples of these five strategies. (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005)
Authors: Siobhan Leahy, Christine Lyon, Marnie Thompson and Dylan Wiliam
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Corrective Action in Low Performing Schools: Lessons for NCLB Implementation from First-generation Accountability Systems
Exploring lessons we can learn from the experiences of states that instituted NCLB-like accountability systems before 2001, the authors looked at the experiences of three smaller states (Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina), four larger ones (California, Florida, New York, Texas), and two large districts (Chicago and Philadelphia). Their analysis of evaluative reports and policy documents as well as interviews with state officials and researchers generated eight lessons: sanctions are not the fallback solution; no single strategy has been universally successful; staging should be handled with flexibility; intensive capacity building is necessary; a comprehensive set of strategies seems promising; relationship-building needs to complement powerful programs; competence reduces conflict; and strong state commitment is needed to create system capacity. (Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2005)
Authors: Heinrich Mintrop and Tina Trujillo
Curriculum-Based Measurement in Mathematics: An Evidence-Based Formative Assessment Procedure
This report describes Mathematics Curriculum-Based Measurement (M-CBM) and includes a brief history, basic procedures, implications for practice, and further resources. It also reviews the research that supports the use of M-CBM. (Center on Instruction, 2007)
Authors: Erica S. Lembke and Pamela M. Stecker
Formative Assessment: Examples of Practice
This article provides a series of short vignettes that clarify a definition of formative assessment and provide examples of various aspects of formative assessment in practice across different subject areas and grade bands. Each vignette is annotated to describe the formative assessment practices that are highlighted in the vignette. (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2008)
Author: E. Caroline Wylie
Formative Classroom Assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, Research, and Implications
Bloom argued that to reduce variation in students' achievement and to have all students learn well, we must increase variation in instructional approaches and learning time. The key element in this effort is well-constructed, formative classroom assessments. Bloom outlined a specific strategy for using formative classroom assessments to guide teachers in differentiating their instruction and labeled it "mastery learning." This paper describes Bloom's work, presents the essential elements of mastery learning, explains common misinterpretations, and describes the results of research on its effects. (American Educational Research Association, 2005)
Author: Thomas R. Guskey
From State Policy to Classroom Practice: Improving Literacy Instruction for All Students
The National Association of State Boards of Education developed this guidance document about state policies and programs that lead to actual instructional changes in the classroom, including actions that must be taken at all levels--state, district, school, and classroom--to impact instructional practices and improve student reading skills. (National Association of State Boards of Education, 2007)
Author: Mariana Haynes
Guidelines for Ensuring the Technical Quality of Assessments Affecting English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities: Development and Implementation of Regulations
This publication provides research-based information on key issues relevant to the technical quality of assessments for English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). These guidelines reflect both syntheses of research and best/promising practices and include recommendations of resources for additional information on the technical quality of assessments for ELLs and SWDs. This is an evolving document, and will be updated periodically to incorporate new information and research. (Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center, 2007)
Improving Data Quality for Title I Standards, Assessments, and Accountability Reporting: Guidelines for States, LEAs, and Schools
This non-regulatory guidance, produced by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, focuses on organizing systems and training staff members to collect valid and reliable data on student achievement. (Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center, 2006)
Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment
This seminal article provides evidence of the power of formative assessment practices in improving student achievement. Based on an extensive survey of the research literature, there is evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards and also that there is evidence to improve formative assessment. (Phi Delta Kappan, 1998)
Authors: Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam
Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners: Research-Based Recommendations for the Use of Accommodations in Large-Scale Assessments
This book is the third in a series of three Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners. NCLB has increased awareness of the academic needs and achievement of ELLs as schools, districts, and states are held accountable for teaching English and content knowledge to ELLs. ELLs present a unique set of challenges to educators because of the central role played by academic language proficiency in the acquisition and assessment of content-area knowledge. This document focuses particularly on research-based recommendations on the use of accommodations to increase the valid participation of ELLs in large-scale assessments. (Center on Instruction, 2006)
Authors: David Francis, Mabel Rivera, Nonie Lesaux, Michael Kieffer, and Hector Rivera
The Technical Adequacy of Assessments for Alternate Student Populations: Guidelines for Consumers and Developers
These guidelines concern assessments for English language learners in particular and special student populations in general. They are intended to help evaluate the technical adequacy (i.e., validity, reliability, and freedom from bias) of assessments used to meet relevant Title I and Title III requirements under No Child Left Behind. (Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center, 2006)
Authors: Stanley N. Rabinowitz and Edynn Sato