Testing

Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education

This book reviews and synthesizes relevant research from economics, psychology, education, and related fields about how incentives work in educational accountability systems. It helps identify circumstances in which test-based incentives may have a positive or a negative impact on student learning and offers recommendations for how to improve current test-based accountability policies. National Research Council of the National Academies, May 26, 2011

State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 1: Rising Scores on State Tests and NAEP

The Center on Education Policy concludes that state tests and the National Assessment of Educational Progress track more closely than has been realized.

Don't Leave Accountability Behind: A Call for ESEA Reauthorization
A new report argues that, despite the promise of education reform efforts such as Race to the Top and the state-led common standards movement, improvement can only be sustained if Congress and the Administration update and improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Alliance for Excellent Education and the Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind, March 1, 2010

Math 2009: Nation's Report Card
See the 2009 NAEP math results and academic trends for 4th and 8th grade students attending urban school districts. Eighteen districts from across the country participated in this year's Trial Urban District Assessment. NAEP,  December 8, 2009

The Nation’s Report Card: NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress
The Nation’s Report Card: NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress compares results for 2008 to 2004, when performances were last released. 4/28/2009

Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Teaching Programs

The Educational Testing Service has released its second edition of "Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Teaching Programs." The report updates and expands research from 2003 and focuses on whether gaps in experience and life conditions have narrowed, stayed the same or improved. Researchers looked at 16 factors related to life experiences and conditions that correlate to development and academic achievement. 6/2/2009

The Condition of Education 2009 is an integrated collection of the indicators and analyses and is produced by the National Center for Education Statistics. 6/2/2009

International Lessons about National Standards
The Thoms B. Fordham Institute released this report about testing benchmarks and goals for American policymakers. 5/5/2009

The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth-Grade Algebra
The Brookings Institution analyzes the disadvantages of eighth graders taking Algebra I when they are not prepared. Tom Loveless, senior fellow and director of the Brown Center on Education at Brookings, is the lead author of the report.
by Brookings Institution , 12/12/2008

Counting on the Future: International Benchmarks in Mathematics for American School Districts pdf
This study by the American Institute for Research (AIR) finds U.S. students from six cities perform equal to, or better than their peers in other countries. The study says student math scores in grades 4-8 in Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, New York and San Diego were on par with their peers internationally.
10/12/2008

Has Student Achievement Improved Since 2002? State Test Score Trends Through 2006-07
The Center on Education Policy released "Has Student Achievement Increased Since 2002?" Student state test scores in reading and math have risen and the achievement gaps between groups of students---specifically African American and poor children -- are narrowing. CEP analyzed state test data from 50 states and trends from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)-the federal administered assessment of students on reading and math subjects.
Center for Education Policy - Nancy Kober, Naomi Chudowsky, Victor Chudowsky, 6/24/2008

The 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning? pdf
This year's Brown Center Report focuses on the nation's testing achievement, private school enrollment and the impact of time on learning math.
The Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution - Tom Loveless, 12/11/2007

Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap
The Brookings Institution has released a report examining No Child Left Behind's effect on the education of the nation's poor children. Researchers said there have been some positive effects for students in the improvement of teacher quality.
The Brookings Institution - Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert M. Hauser, Paul Hill, 11/9/2007

Interpreting 12th-Graders’ NAEP-Scaled Mathematics Performance Using High School Predictors and Postsecondary Outcomes From the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) pdf
A report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) interprets the math scores and performance of students.
U.S. Department of Education/National Center for Education Statistics - Leslie A. Scott,Steven J. Ingels, Jeffrey A. Owings, 9/18/2007

Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era
This report examines time spent during the school week on core academic subjects and how that's changed since NCLB was enacted in the 2001-2002 school year. It finds that approximately 62 percent of school districts increased the amount of time spent in elementary schools on English/language arts and or math, while 44 percent of districts cut time on science, social studies, art and music, physical education, lunch or recess.
Center on Education Policy - Jennifer McMurrer, 7/24/2007

What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB
This Education Sector Explainer provides an aid to understanding how NCLB's accountability system works overall and in different states, without weighing in on the merits of the law's 2014 goal. It includes a discussion of the basics of "making" AYP and the multiple routes schools can take to get there and data showing what the requirements are in each state to meet AYP this year and for the past two years.
Education Sector, 7/24/2007

Standards, Accountability and Flexibility: Americans Speak on No Child Left Behind Reauthorization
ETS's seventh annual public opinion poll reveals that parents, teachers and administrators strongly support No Child Left Behind reauthorization, despite limited knowledge about the law's provisions. The survey also shows a majority of adults think state standards and tests should be replaced with one national standard and test.
ETS, 6/20/2007

The Condition of Education 2007
High school students in the United States are taking more courses in mathematics and science, as well as social studies, the arts, and foreign languages, according to an analysis of high school student coursework that is highlighted in this government report. Statistics on student achievement, school environment and a wide range of other topics related to early childhood education through postsecondary education are also included.
by National Center for Education Statistics, 5/1/2007

Urban Districts: 2005 Science Assessment
Ten urban school districts volunteered to have their results on science portions of the National Assessment of Educational Progress published as part of an experiment to compare urban districts to the rest of the country. Some urban districts do better than others, but as a whole, not as well as the rest of the country.
11/20/2006

How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?
A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation finds that just eight states can claim even moderate success over the past 15 years at boosting the percentage of their poor or minority students who are at or above proficient in reading, math or science.
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, 11/3/2006

The Condition of Education 2006
The 2006 Condition on Education summarizes important trends and developments in education. The report includes 50 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education.
National Center for Education Statistics - Patrick Rooney, William Hussar and Michael Planty, 6/1/2006

Executive Agendas: Education Week reviews the 2005 education agendas and outcomes for all 50 governors pdf
In a study of the 2005 education agendas and outcomes of all 50 U.S. governors, Education Week found that most focused their efforts on policies related to high school and preschool.
Education Week - Alan Richard, 3/22/2006

Improving Assessment and Accountability for English Language Learners in the No Child Left Behind Act
This report looks at the impact of the federal No Child Left Behind Act on English language learners (ELLs). Although many states try to bypass the law by exempting ELLs from test score and student outcome reports, NCLB holds considerable promise for closing the achievement gap between ELLs and other students, the study concludes.
National Council of La Raza - Melissa Lazarín, 3/22/2006

Beating the Odds: A City-By-City Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments pdf
This study found that students in urban school districts increasingly scored better on state assessment tests in the past four years, with many outpacing their states?? average rates of improvement. In addition, students in big cities improved faster in mathematics than reading.
Council of the Great City Schools - Michael Casserly, 3/21/2006

Margins of Error: The Testing Industry in the No Child Left Behind Era
The debut report from the new think tank Education Sector examines how thinly stretched the testing industry is in this era of accountability. Both the industry and state agencies are vying for the few psychometricians college produce.
Education Sector - Thomas Toch, 1/30/2006

Thinking About Tests and Testing pdf
A primer on testing by Gerald Bracey, written for the American Youth Policy Forum.
11/30/2005

Frequently Asked Questions about Assessment and Testing
The Association of American Publishers put out a series of informational papers on issues related to educational assessment and testing.
Association of American Publishers, 11/9/2004

Troubling Questions About Online Education

Colorado taxpayers will spend $100 million this year on online schools that are largely failing their elementary and high school students, state education records and interviews with school officials show. Burt Hubbard and Nancy Mitchell, Education News Colorado, Oct 4th, 2011.

Teachers Are Put to the Test

Teacher evaluations for years were based on brief classroom observations by the principal. But now, prodded by President Barack Obama's $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, at least 26 states have agreed to judge teachers based, in part, on results from their students' performance on standardized tests. Stephanie Banchero and David Kesmodel, The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 13, 2011

OECD Study: Smaller Percentage of College Grads Are in the US; China, South Korea Gain Ground

The United States is losing its advantage in the global talent pool as the number of adults gaining college degrees in countries such as China and South Korea increases rapidly, according to a new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Daniel DeVise, Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2011

Scores Show Students Aren’t Ready For College

Three out of four graduates aren’t fully prepared for college and likely need to take at least one remedial class, according to the latest annual survey from the nonprofit testing organization ACT, which measured half of the nation’s high school seniors in English, math, reading and science proficiency. Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times, Aug. 17, 2011

Most Schools Flagged For Possible Cheating Likely To Be Cleared

Most of the 90 Pennsylvania schools whose results raised red flags for possible cheating on the 2009 state assessment test probably did nothing wrong, and the Department of Education likely will clear them, a department spokesman said. Jodi Weigand, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Aug. 16, 2011

Merit Pay for Principals Prompts Questions

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a plan Monday to award merit pay to Chicago Public Schools principals who perform well on a new set of evaluative metrics as critics questioned whether the program will lead to gains in student achievement. Rebecca Vevea and Crystal Yednak, Chicago News Cooperative, Aug. 15, 2011

Highly Rated Instructors Go Beyond Teaching to the Standardized Test

Some Southern California teachers are finding ways to keep creativity in the lesson plan even as they prepare their students for standardized tests. Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2011

Teachers From Low-Performing Schools Face Stigma On Job Search

In a bizarre game of musical chairs, nearly 1,000 Los Angeles teachers — who are guaranteed jobs somewhere in the school system — have been hunting for a school that wants them. And hundreds of them have to counter a stigma that they are undesirable castoffs, because they previously worked at low-performing schools that are being restructured. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2011

Young D.C. Principal Quits and Tells Why

The dysfunction Phoebe Hearst Elementary Principal Bill Kerlina encountered in D.C. public schools led him to quit this month, fed up and burned out. Bill Turque, Washington Post, June 25, 2011

Diane Ravitch, the Anti-Rhee

Somewhat improbably, this former education official from the first Bush administration has emerged as the most media-savvy progressive critic of the reform campaign embraced by everyone from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates—a campaign that, in the public mind, is perhaps most associated with former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Dana Goldstein, Washington City Paper, June 24, 2011

Cheating, Tampering Found in Baltimore Schools

Widespread cheating on state assessment tests has been uncovered at two Baltimore elementary schools, state and district officials are expected to announce today. Erica L. Green, Baltimore Sun, June 23, 2011

The World's Schoolmaster

How a German scientist is using test data to revolutionize global learning. Amanda Ripley, The Atlantic, June 2011

New Force in Illinois Quickly Pushes State Toward School Reform

In short order, Stand for Children tapped into a network of the city's rich and powerful — including billionaires with names like Pritzker, Crown and Zell — to raise millions of dollars. The stockpile of money is geared toward influencing elections and paying an all-star lineup of lobbyists across the political spectrum to prod lawmakers to act on issues that previously failed or were thought to be undoable. Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, June 11, 2011

Good School/Bad School

How do you judge if a school is good or bad? A strong leader, great teachers, a diverse curriculum and happy children can all be indicators that a school is good — but when state and federal policymakers evaluate schools, they typically consider just one piece of evidence: test scores. Cat McGrath and John Merrow, Learning Matters, June 3, 2011

Md. Teacher Evaluation Redesign Bogs Down

The state that prides itself on cutting-edge practices and top-in-the-nation schools is struggling — along with every state or school system that has ever tried — to come up with a reliable formula for improving the teacher workforce and rooting out the lowest performers. Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post, June 4, 2011

Ranking America's High Schools

Since 1998, The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews has ranked Washington-area public high schools using the Challenge Index, his measure of how effectively a school prepares its students for college. In 2011, the Post expanded its research to high schools across the United States. May 22, 2011

LA Times Updates and Expands Value-Added Ratings for Los Angeles Elementary School Teachers

New data include ratings for about 11,500 teachers, nearly double the number covered last August. School and civic leaders had sought to halt release of the data. Jason Song and Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2011

High School Classes May Be Advanced in Name Only

Even though students are getting more credits in more advanced courses, they are not scoring any higher on standardized tests. Sam Dillon, New York Times, April 25, 2011

NAEP Study Finds Jump in Students Taking Tough Courses

Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more likely to perform well on achievement tests, according to a study released today that shows more students are doing just that. Caralee J. Adams, Education Week, April 14, 2011

When Standardized Test Scores Soared in D.C., Were the Gains Real?

A USA Today investigation found that for the past three school years most of Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus classrooms had extraordinarily high numbers of erasures on standardized tests. The consistent pattern was that wrong answers were erased and changed to right ones. Noyes is one of 103 public schools that have had erasure rates that surpassed D.C. averages at least once since 2008. That's more than half of D.C. schools. Jack Gillum and Marisol Bello, USA Today, March 28, 2011

American Council on Education and Pearson Will Redevelop GED as For-Profit Program

The partnership comes after the council announced its GED 21st Century Initiative, which seeks to restructure the test to align it with a modern high-school curriculum and to develop stronger instructional programs. The new test will be released by 2014. Lauren Sieben, Chronicle of Higher Education, March 15, 2011

Most Public Schools May Miss Targets, Education Secretary Says

More than 80,000 of the nation’s 100,000 public schools could be labeled as failing under No Child Left Behind, the main federal law on public education, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Congress on Wednesday. Sam Dillon, New York Times, March 9, 2011

Tested: Covering Schools in the Age of the Micro-Measurement

Supporters of value-added measurements argue that teacher evaluations require objective rigor, calculated with statistics. Weak teachers, they argue, should not hide behind a subjective, protective system that undermines children’s futures. Critics counter that the calculations are incomplete, misleading, and often wrong. LynNell Hancock, Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 2011. We will be discussing the media's role in reporting value-added scores at the National Seminar.

Find Your State's NAEP Report Card

The findings of the 2009 Science National Assessment of Educational Progress were announced this week on nationsreportcard.gov. Results are broken down by state and subject. Also included are district profiles, sample questions and state comparison tools.

National science test scores disappoint

About two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders failed to show proficiency in science in 2009, the federal government reported Tuesday, meaning that the average student was likely to be stumped when asked to interpret a temperature graph or explain an example of heat transfer. Nick Anderson, Washington Post, Jan. 25, 2011

Whistle-Blowing Teachers Targeted

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reviewed reports of Atlanta Public Schools internal investigations and spoke with more than a dozen current and former Atlanta educators. The documents and the interviews describe a culture that punishes employees who report wrongdoing and rewards those who keep silent. Some whistle-blowers end up under scrutiny themselves. Others are subjected to questions about their mental health. Some lose their jobs. Alan Judd and Heather Vogell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 23, 2011

A School Where Grades Are Tops, But Test Scores Are Not

Students at the San Diego Metropolitan Career and Technical High School, known as the Met, were more likely to get As and Bs than kids at any San Diego high school last year. Nearly three out of four students had at least a B average in grades 10 to 12, almost twice the average at local schools. But Met students didn't have the highest scores on the range of tests eyed by colleges and the state. Emily Alpert, Voice of San Diego, Jan. 17, 2011

Nearly 1 in 4 Fails Military Exam

Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the U.S. Army fail its entrance exam, painting a grim picture of an education system that produces graduates who can't answer basic math, science and reading questions, according to a new study released Tuesday. Christine Armario and Dorie Turner, Associated Press, Dec. 21, 2010

Top Test Scores from Shanghai Stun Educators

With China's debut in international standardized testing, students in Shanghai have surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens of other countries, in reading as well as math and science, according to the results of a respected exam. Sam Dillon, The New York Times, Dec. 7, 2010

Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected

An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another. But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known. Trip Gabriel, The New York Times, Nov. 9, 2010

Your Child Left Behind

When researchers compared the best and the brightest from individual states to similar students in other countries, not a single state made it into the top dozen contenders on the list. Massachusetts came closest at no. 17. Mississippi ranked with Thailand and Serbia. Amanda Ripley, The Atlantic, December 2010

Most Kids Passing State Achievement Tests but Few are Excelling

Thousands of Illinois schools are like mediocre students: Most of their pupils are passing — but not distinguishing themselves — on state achievement exams. Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 29, 2010

Most Kids Passing State Achievement Tests but Few are Excelling

Thousands of Illinois schools are like mediocre students: Most of their pupils are passing — but not distinguishing themselves — on state achievement exams. Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 29, 2010

Schools Paying for Test Goofs

Testing mishaps forced Ohio schools - including 11 locally - to pay the state thousands of dollars for alternate tests. Jennifer Smith Richards, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 29, 2010

On New York Tests, Warning Signs Ignored

When New York State made its standardized English and math tests tougher to pass this year, causing proficiency rates to plummet, it said it was relying on a new analysis showing that the tests had become too easy and that score inflation was rampant. But evidence had been mounting for some time that the state’s tests, which have formed the basis of almost every school reform effort of the past decade, had serious flaws. Jennifer Medina, The New York Times, Oct. 11, 2010

Champion on the Ropes

The worst middle school in Ohio is on the Near East Side, surrounded by a rough neighborhood and mired in failure despite every effort to fix it. Will the latest overhaul make any difference? Jennifer Smith Richards, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 3, 2010

The Data War in Local Schools

The federal government demands that more and more kids at Edison Elementary School in San Diego score "proficient" on state tests every year. It sounds good to politicians and the press, but the teachers know it isn't that simple.The problem: The tests don't track how much each child improves. Instead, they measure how each group of children scores compared to the last group. So Edison is actually trying to get a whole new set of third graders to do better than the last crop of third graders. Emily Alpert, Voice of San Diego, Oct. 3, 2010

Drill, Baby, Drill

The word “drill” has come to define bad teaching. The piercing violence that “drilling” evokes just seems not to belong in sensitive pedagogy. Good teachers don’t fire off quiz questions and catechize kids about facts. But while drilling might not look pretty — students doing drills don’t tend terrariums or don wigs to re-enact the Constitutional Convention — might it nonetheless be a useful way for some students to learn some things? Virginia Hefernan, New York Times Sunday Magazine Education Life Issue, Sept. 19, 2010

Race to the Top grants go to groups developing new student assessment strategies
The federal government awarded $330 million Thursday to two groups that are developing new student assessment systems for the District, Maryland and dozens of other states in an effort to upgrade their much-maligned standardized tests. Nick Anderson, Washington Post, Sept. 3, 2010

Progress slows in closing achievement gaps in D.C. schools
After two years of progress, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's effort to narrow the vast achievement gap separating white and African American students in D.C. public schools has stalled, an analysis of 2010 test score data shows. Bill Turque, Washington Post, August 27, 2010

Half of Tennessee students fail tougher state tests
About half of Tennessee's public school students failed to meet state academic standards this year, the result of a more rigorous curriculum, harder exams and tougher grading. The dismal results didn't come as a surprise to state leaders, who for years have said that Tennessee schools are too easy and that the state does not accurately report academic performance. Jaime Sarrio, The Tennessean, Aug. 2, 2010

U.S. Reading Scores Stall in Urban School Districts
Students in large U.S. cities are struggling to improve their reading ability, especially at middle-school levels, according to results from a national reading test released Thursday. Stephanie Banchero, The Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2010

Additional scrutiny for Ga. schools as state tests begin
More eyes will be on Georgia’s school kids as state testing season kicks into high gear this week.More monitors will watch over students settling into testing rooms. Others will be on hand to watch the transfer of booklets from teacher to principal. And even more system and state officials will be on alert when answer sheets make their way from campus to warehouse and on to be scored. Kristina Torres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 12, 2010

More California youth applying to out-of-state universities, say admission officers
With the state's higher education system in crisis, more California students are vying for admission at out-of-state universities, applying for seats at campuses from the hills of upstate New York to the snowy flatlands of Ohio to the deserts of Arizona. Lisa M. Krieger, San Jose Mercury News, March 12, 2010

Computerized state assessments to save time, money
Despite growing up with computers in her home and classroom, fourth-grader Laurel Huntley prefers taking state assessments the old-fashioned way — with paper and pencil. But, like all Kansas students Laurel will have to take her math, reading and writing tests on the computer this year. Lori Yount, The Wichita Eagle, Feb. 22, 2010

St. Paul schools rev up for test season
A broad swath of St. Paul Public Schools students will be getting extra help studying for high stakes tests this spring as part of a new district program that is assigning a phalanx of senior teachers to focus on improving test scores. Gregory A. Patterson, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Feb. 18, 2010

Suspicious test scores widespread in state
One in five Georgia public schools faces accusations of tampering with student answers on last spring’s state standardized tests, officials said, throwing the state’s main academic measure into turmoil. Heather Vogell and John Perry, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Feb. 12, 2010

Failure rate for AP tests climbing
The number of students taking Advanced Placement tests hit a record high last year, but the portion who fail the exams — particularly in the South is rising as well, a USA TODAY analysis finds. Jack Gillum and Greg Toppo, USA TODAY, Feb. 5, 2010

More Texas students taking, failing AP exams
Robust Advanced Placement programs are often seen as a seal of quality for high schools. And in its quest for excellence, Texas has seen an explosion of the classes that offer the promise and prestige of college credit. But the latest data show Texas high school students fail more than half of the college-level exams, and their performance trails national averages. First in a two part series. Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News, December 7, 2009

Texas students struggle on early versions of end-of-course tests
As hundreds of Texas school districts get a jump on the end-of-course tests that will debut statewide in two years, preliminary results indicate a large number of students will have trouble passing the exams. Terrence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 3, 2009