News Briefs
Student achievement is improving in New Orleans, even as most of the schools operated by the state-run Recovery School District remain among the lowest-performing in Louisiana.
November 17, 2008
Maryland will not delay a requirement that this year’s high school seniors pass standardized tests to graduate, a decision that means thousands of students must boost their scores or complete projects in the subjects they fail if they wish to receive diplomas this spring.
November 4, 2008
Carol D’Amico, who served as the Bush administration’s assistant secretary for vocational and adult education at the U.S. Department of Education from 2001 to 2003, is one of three new appointees named to the National Assessment Governing Board.
November 4, 2008
A spokeswoman for Sen. Barack Obama sparked a mini-debate over testing last week when she suggested on a national radio show that the Democratic presidential nominee endorses the use of student portfolios.
October 28, 2008
Maine plans to eliminate 5th and 8th grade writing tests in March, and the state is considering joining a multistate consortium to save money on tests.
October 28, 2008
October 28, 2008
By addressing the concerns of both those who want high standards, and those who rightly see serious deficiencies in the tests used by most states, stakeholders could create a test system that benefits students, teachers, and the nation, says Charles Barone.
November 17, 2008
Randy Dorn, who takes over after beating the incumbent Nov. 4, has called the Washington Assessment of Student learning “deeply flawed.”
November 14, 2008
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is already getting feedback on its newly announced plans to retool its education grantmaking.
November 12, 2008
Business and higher education leaders are pleading with schools to teach "21st-century skills," but figuring out whether the skills have been taught well won’t be easy or cheap, a new paper warns.
November 10, 2008
Six out of 11 U.S. city school systems performed at or above the average for developed nations in 4th grade math, according to an analysis linking national and international test results. Only two of the 11 districts beat out the 8th grade average.
October 22, 2008
College Board says its new assessment will help schools gauge college readiness earlier.
October 22, 2008
Teachers’ access to student information has increased, but many lack the training and some necessary tools to support the kind of data-driven decisionmaking that leads to instructional change and improved achievement, a report says.
October 20, 2008
As states’ information-collection systems grow more sophisticated, officials are grappling with where to draw the line on how “value added” data on teachers can be used.
October 20, 2008
Checklist of questions helps test creators avoid needless confusion for students with disabilities.
October 20, 2008
Updated: September 23, 2008
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