A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

As growing numbers of States, school districts, and local education communities develop standards for student performance, it becomes apparent that a new generation of tests is needed. Efforts to reform schools have provided new insights into not only the relative strengths and limitations of existing tests but also the promising uses and sometimes harmful misuses of tests. Current testing practices fall short of what is needed in an number of respects. For example, tests often do not measure what people in the schools an community value most highly and are inaccessible to large segments of the student population such as limited English proficient and special education students. Tests also are often technically deficient, failing to meet crucial elements of validity, reliability, fairness, and content and skill coverage. And tests are often used for purposes for which they were neither intended nor suited.

Through the Assessment Development and Evaluation Grants program, the Department funds projects that develop, evaluate, and field-test State assessments aligned with challenging State content standards and accessible to students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency. Nine grants were awarded in 1995 and two were awarded in 1997. The intent is that these assessments will be used to improve classroom instruction, motivate all students to improve educational performance, and provide examples for students, teachers, and parents of the learning outcomes that can be expected for all students. (Institute contact: David Sweet or Maggie McNeely)

Project abstracts are listed by state. We encourage you to visit the Department's map of state education agencies to read about individual state reform plans and to see how these particular grants support and extend those efforts. We would also encourage you to contact grant Project Directors for further information on their activities.

This page last updated on July 17, 1998 (gkp)