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EDUCATION: ASSESSMENT & TESTING


These sites have a variety of educational assessment issues including testing, outcomes assessment (primarily, but not exclusively for higher education), educational performance standards at the national and state levels.  Resources include "gateways," directories, testing resources, academic library pathfinders/resource guides, clearinghouses, and state departments of education.  All sites are free-of-charge.


Awesome Library: Teacher/Assessment Information

•  Maintained by Dr. R. Jerry Adams and the Evaluation and Development Institute (EDI)
•  Links to over 70 sites for assessment, standards, and statistics for national and state levels
•  Includes sites for assessment of specific disciplines, testing on the state level, professional organizations, "No Child Left Behind Act," development of standards, program accreditation and evaluation, resources for K-12
•  Annotations accompany some links
•  Does an admirable job of selecting authoritative/representative assessment sites; especially useful for resources on states' educational standards


Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE)

•  CPRE "... unites researchers from ... the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison ... in an effort to improve elementary and secondary education through practical research"
•  Conducts research projects on a variety of educational policy issues
•  "Publications" highlights CPRE's policy briefs/bulletins, reports, case studies, journal articles; most of these may be downloaded on .pdf
•  "Assessment and Accountability Systems: 50 State Profiles" reports on the status of assessment/accountability programs; most of the reports are based on data provided by states' departments of education; many are extensive and are an excellent source for measuring the progress of states' efforts in these areas
•  "State Profiles" include the following: "State Assessment System," "Inclusion Policies for Assessment," "Performance Standards," "Reporting Performance Data," "State Accountability System," "Identifying and Assisting Low-Performing Schools and Districts," "Title I and Adequate Yearly Progress"
•  Also includes information about CPRE's policies/programs, conferences/events, news; electronic newsletter available
•  Excellent resource for researching educational policy issues; for the purposes of this guide, its section on assessment/accountability is of great value for anyone researching these topics at the state level


Educational & Psychological Tests

•  Maintained by Ellen Cronk, Rush Rees Library, University of Rochester
•  Guide to print resources on testing in the Rush Rees Library
•  Topics examined include the follow: "Background and Issues in Testing," "Evaluation Guidelines," "Test Reviews, Validity, and Reliability," "To Identify Tests on a Particular Topic"
•  Annotations accompany most citations for print resources
•  Print resources examined here should be available in many academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Not extensive, but a great place for an introduction to "the basics"


Educational Research and Evaluation

•  Maintained by Ohio University Library
•  This pathfinder offers suggestions for locating assessment/evaluation resources in the Alden Library
•  Discusses print resources and abstracts/indexes available in the library; these may be found in many academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Also includes a short list of journals with significant assessment/evaluation content; links to associations, clearinghouses, additional sites
•  Not extensive, but a very good introduction to basic resources for this topic


FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing

•  "An advocacy organization working to end the abuses, misuses and flaws of standardized testing and ensure that evaluation of students and workers is fair, open, and educationally sound; ... special emphasis on eliminating the racial, class, gender and cultural barriers to equal opportunity"
•  Analyzes/assesses testing policies for K-12, national testing, university testing and employment testing
•  Links to reports, "fact sheets" and other websites concerned with equity/fairness in testing
•  "Assessment Reform Network" serves as a clearinghouse for "parents, teachers, students and others" interesting in airing ideas and exchanging views on testing reform
•  Updated frequently
•  Also provides information on FairTest's policies, projects and publications
•  Excellent; one of the best sites for equity/fairness issues on levels of educational (and employment) testing


FAQ/Finding Information About Psychological Tests

•  Sponsored by the Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA)
•  This guide offers suggestions for strategies and explains procedures for locating information on psychological tests (published and unpublished)
•  "APA neither sells nor endorses testing instruments"
•  Includes a brief description of some of the major print resources for this topic
•  Not extensive, but very useful for anyone needing guidance on locating and evaluating psychological tests


Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment

•  Maintained by Ephraim Schechter for University Planning & Analysis, N.C. State University
•  This directory links to 6 categories dealing with various aspects of outcomes assessment in higher education
•  Best feature is "Individual institution assessment-related pages," which links to over 220 college/university pages for outcomes assessment
•  "General Resources" links to over 70 sites for forums, discussion lists, archived articles, "lists of links," glossaries, journals, professional organizations, surveys
•  Also links to categories for "Assessment Handbooks," "Assessment of specific skills or content," "Accrediting bodies," "Student assessment of courses & faculty"
•  Excellent annotations accompany almost every site (especially useful for institution-specific pages)
•  Outstanding; this one of the best – if not the best – sites for links to policies/procedures/resources for outcomes assessment; comprehensive, easy-to-navigate and mandatory for anyone conducting research in this area


Measuring Up: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education (2002)

•  Sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
•  "Measuring Up 2002 is the second in a series of biennial, state-by-state ; it "... provides state leaders, policy makers, researchers and others" with a tool to analyze a state's performance in higher education in 6 categories: preparation, participation, affordability, completion, benefits, learning
•  "State at a Glance" and "State Profiles" provide ranking in the 6 performance categories, with grading from A to F
•  "National Picture" allows a state's performance to be compared against national standards for each category
•  "Compare States" allows users to utilize a "State Data Comparison System" to compare two (or more) states' performance in the 6 categories (or, if desired, by sub-categories)
•  Also includes articles, reports and "How We Grade States and How We Measure Improvement"
•  Excellent; one of the best sites for interactive information on performance status of states' systems of higher education


National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

•  Sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), in conjunction with the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), "a bipartisan group whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public"
•  Also known as "The Nation's Report Card," the NAEP "... is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas," including mathematics, reading, science and writing
•  NAEP includes commentary/statistics regarding both national and state assessments on the progress of both public and non-public school students at grades 4, 8, 12
•  "State Profiles" contains statistical data on a state's "Student Characteristics," "School/District Characteristics," "Racial/Ethnic Background"; includes statistics relating to state's performance level on the 4 core-group subject areas (mathematics, reading, science and writing) compared to national figures
•  "More Information" provides background on NAEP's methodology and related material explaining the site's development
•  Also links to additional surveys conducted by NCES for early childhood education, elementary/secondary education, postsecondary education, international educational comparisons, libraries
•  Excellent; one of the best sources for comprehensive data on K-12 student performance for critical subject areas


National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

•  "NCEO is an affiliated center of the Institute on Community Integration, located within the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota"
•  This organization is concerned with educational outcomes issues for all students, with special emphasis on disabled students
•  "Resources" outline's NCEO's activities in helping "... state personnel, educators, parents and others" develop programs, policies, and other resources for their efforts to create assessment/outcomes
•  "Related Web Sites" links to additional disability resources, government agencies (federal and regional), professional educational associations, organizations
•  Includes an "Online Accommodations Bibliography"
•  The site's most useful feature is its excellent "Online Publications" (over 140) which report on a wide variety of assessment/outcomes issues; these have been produced by NCEO or other professional educational associations/organizations
•  Outstanding; one of the best sites – if not the best - for assessment outcomes issues; its reports and concentration on disabilities make this a mandatory site for anyone researching these issues


National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform (NCCSR)

•  "A Partnership of The George Washington University, Council of Education, Institute for Educational Leadership"
•  "Mission: NCCRS collects and disseminates information that builds the capacity of schools to raise the academic achievement of all students"
•  "Funded by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education"
•  This venture – a non-profit/federal organization – encourages the implementation of broad-based school reform
•  "Step by Step – an online collection of select tools and resources designed to aid schools as they plan, implement, and sustain schoolwide reform programs" – offers advice and resource materials ("nine essential ‘steps'") to practitioners involved in school reform initiatives
•  "CRS Models" – "replicable, externally developed approaches to school improvement" – link to over 50 online models which have implemented reforms successfully; searchable by model type, grade level, "special populations"
•  "Resources" provide annotated links to government agencies (federal/state), foundations, clearinghouses, professional organizations
•  Also provides information on NCCSR publications (e-mail/print newsletters, research/policy reports)
•  Outstanding; one of the best sites for broad-based, practical information on analyzing and implementing school reform


Resources for Psychological and Educational Tests and Measurements

•  Created by Joy Cichewicz and maintained by Social Work Library, University of Michigan
•  This pathfinder discusses databases, reference print resources and microfiche resources on tests/measurements
•  Most of the print resources may be found in many academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Database resources are restricted to the University of Michigan academic community; they may be available in many academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Not extensive, but this site does an excellent job of discussing the content/uses of some of the foremost print resources for testing; very useful for the novice researcher


Students Against Testing (SAT)

•  "Mission Statement: SAT is a nationwide network of young people who resist high stakes standardized testing and support real-life learning"
•  Links to activist sites for the following: "Action Gallery," "Reading/Research," "Discussion Boards"
•  Also links to "State-by-State Activist Groups," "Educational Organizations," "Testing Related Industries and Organizations"
•  This site's very useful for discussing/examining anti-testing arguments


Tests and Measurements: Research Guide

•  Maintained by Deborah Lee, Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University Libraries
•  Guide to utilizing library's print resources, databases and locating web resources
•  Discusses reference print resources available in the library and suggests search strategies for locating additional information; also lists journals of interest
•  Print resources discussed here should be available in many academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Database resources are restricted to the Mississippi State University academic community; many should be available in academic libraries or large public libraries
•  Links to instructions for "Citing Sources"
•  Excellent; does a noteworthy job of covering "the basics" for users; very useful for beginning research


Tests and Testing Information

•  Maintained by Kate Corby, Michigan State University Libraries
•  A directory of Internet, print and database resources, this guide covers many of the most authoritative resources in testing and assessment
•  "Web Resources" links to annotated sites for the location of specific "instruments," professional associations, commercial testing sites, educational testing sites, additional assessment-related documents
•  Print resources should be available in many academic libraries and large public libraries
•  Databases are restricted to the Michigan State University academic community; they should be available in many academic libraries and large public libraries
•  Excellent; easy-to-navigate and a great place for an overview this subject area


Websites discussed on this page are for informational purposes only. Johnson & Wales University Library is not responsible for the accuracy, content, or stability of any websites linked to this page.

Compiled by Rick Keogh, 3/04; links last checked 12/07

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