Latest Standardized test Stories
By Neill, Monty With more pressing issues on its agenda and no consensus about how to proceed, Congress probably will delay until after this November's elections the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a framework of standards, tests, and consequences initiated by the 1994 authorization of the Elementary and secondary Education Act (ESEA). The outcome of those elections might create significant political shirts that would affect any new version of the widely criticized federal...
By Katz, Stanley N GENERALIZATIONS about longitudinal collegiate assessment are difficult to make, and they are often problematic. For one thing, there is an incredible range of institutional types. Even if we were to stipulate a primary interest in fouryear liberal arts institutions, we would find that almost all colleges and universities lay claimhowever plausibly-to this designation. And apart from their differing educational structures and missions, institutions also differ in terms of...
By Emily Krone ekrone@@dailyherald.com Writing tests don't determine whether schools earn passing or failing marks under high-stakes accountability laws, but local educators continue to fight to keep writing a priority. It's an uphill battle as schools increasingly devote more time and resources to reading and math - and it paid dividends in state scores reported on a key national writing exam that had Illinois eighth-graders outperforming most of their peers around the country. "I think...
Troubled children hurt their classmates' math and reading scores and worsen their behavior, according to new research by economists at the University of California, Davis, and University of Pittsburgh.The study, "Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids," was published in August by the National Bureau of Economic Research and is available online at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14246.Scott Carrell, an assistant professor of...
By Jennifer D Jordan The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to act soon on a proposal giving 11th-grade test results more weight among criteria for graduation. A group of parents worried that proposed changes to high school regulations would prevent their children from graduating have asked state education officials to reconsider the changes, which could be approved as early as next week. The proposal drawing the most criticism would make the state tests...
ETA/Cuisenaire announces a special deal on VersaTiles(R), its exclusive self-correcting, independent student practice system designed to build essential skills and improve test scores in math, science and reading. At a time when classroom spending is tight, educators now have the chance to stretch their budgets with this special offer from the premier publisher of hands-on educational materials. From now through Nov. 30, 2008, educators will receive five free additional VersaTiles answer...
By James Joyce III When results from the spring WASL test were released by the state's schools chief Tuesday morning, the figures for the Yakima School District mostly mirrored the statewide trend: there were some ups and downs. Now, school officials locally and throughout the state are analyzing the data to determine what it says about how well they are educating children. Not an easy task. "It's so hard to say anything definitive about scores that go up and down from one year to the...
Curriculum Advantage, Inc. announced today that the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) has selected Classworks as one of the premier curriculum and remediation tools of choice for Tennessee's elementary, middle and high schools. TOSS leaders cited Classworks' history of raising student test scores in math and reading and its correlation to state standards and TCAP objectives as reasons for selecting the system. Classworks (www.curriculumadvantage.com) gives teachers a...
Illinois students in grades 3-8 recently completed their annual weeklong series of standardized tests - the Illinois Standard Achievement Tests. The tests are supposed to be a gauge of how well - or how poorly - our schools are teaching students in core subjects like math and English, science and social studies. It also is a gauge of how well students are prepared to move on to the next level - especially whether eighth-graders are prepared for high school. As Daily Herald staff writer...
By David Harrison david.harrison@roanoke.com 777-3523 All of Roanoke County's 27 schools met federal standards last year, according to Superintendent Lorraine Lange, citing preliminary information from the Virginia Department of Education. She said the results were an indication that the school system was able to adapt to increasingly difficult requirements. Under the No Child Left Behind law of 2002, a certain percentage of students of all demographic groups in all schools and all school...
