Evaluation of the Voluntary National Tests, Year 2 Final Report (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Purpose and Use
Purpose and Use
Pages 12-20
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From page 12... ...
High Stakes: Testir~gfor Tracking, Promotion, arid Graduatiorr (National Research Council, 1999c3) The National Assessment Governing Boarc3 and Voluntary National Tests: A Status Report (Guerra, 1998~.
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From page 13... ...
The public policy anc3 incliviclual decision models hac3 several elements in common: . overall purpose; · no federal requirement, sanction, or reward for participation; · no federal receipt, scoring, tabulation, or reporting of VNT data; · extensive feedback of incliviclual performance data with results reported in terms of NAEP achievement levels; · no ties between the VNT anc3 a specific curriculum, teaching method, or approach; · no intent to diagnose specific learning problems or English language proficiency; · no use as the sole criterion in high stakes decisions about incliviclual students; anc3 · no evaluation of instructional practices or programs, or of school effectiveness.
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From page 14... ...
The board suggests to Congress and the President that the following statement of purpose be considered (National Assessment Governing Board, 1999e:51: To measure individual student achievement in 4th grade reading and 8th grade mathematics, based on the content and rigorous performance standards of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) , as set by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB)
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From page 15... ...
The report suggests to Congress anc3 the President that they consider the following statement of intenclec3 use of the Voluntary National Tests (National Assessment Governing Boarc3, l999e:9~: To provide information to parents, students, and authorized educators about the achievement of the individual student in relation to the content and the rigorous performance standards for the National Assessment, as set by the National Assessment Governing Board for 4th grade reading and 8th grade mathematics. In its rationale, NAGB focuses on the measurement of incliviclual student achievement in relation to NAEP performance stanciarcis, consistent with its preceding statement of purpose, anc3 it identifies the audience for VNT results as "parents, stuclents, and authorized eclucators." The report suggests several ways in which the VNT could affect future educational progress, for example (National Assessment Governing Boarc3, l999e:10~: (1)
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From page 16... ...
Rather, the report explains (National Assessment Governing Board, l999e:11~: It is conceivable that circumstances could exist in which state and/or school district authorities would find information from the voluntary national test useful, in concert with other valid information, in making "high stakes" decisions about individual students. Therefore, it seems prudent not to foreclose such use absolutely.
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From page 17... ...
The proposal for the Voluntary National Tests, as articulated by the Clinton administration anc3 revised by the National Assessment Governing Board, assumes positive educational effects of incliviclual achievement testing based on high stanciarcis, as embocliec3 in NAEP. President Clinton argued that "good tests will show us who needs help, what changes in teaching to make, anc3 which schools need to improve" (National Research Council, 1999e)
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From page 18... ...
In abolition to the intenclec3 use, as clescribec3 above, NAGB floes not limit or proscribe other uses of VNT scores by institutional participants (National Assessment Governing Board, l999e:10~: The Governing Board does not assume that uses of data from voluntary national tests beyond the intended use described above are necessarily inappropriate or should be prohibited to states, districts, and private schools. Any such additional use of voluntary national test data would be done at the discretion of the participating state, district, or private school authorities, who would be responsible for following appropriate technical standards and validation procedures.
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From page 19... ...
Thus, NAGB should rethink its positions with respect to prevention anc3 control of potentially inappropriate uses of the VNT. RECOMMENDATION 2.2 The National Assessment Governing Board should develop explicit and detailed guidelines, practices, and enforcement mechanisms for the appropriate use of the Voluntary National Tests relative to high stakes decisions about individual students or about teachers, classrooms, schools, or other educational units.
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From page 20... ...
Again, the report provides no indication of what NAGB would c30 in the event of misuse of aggregated VNT information. The committee believes this is a major deficit in the NAGB report: RECOMMENDATION 2.3 The National Assessment Governing Board should develop explicit and detailed guidelines, practices, and enforcement mechanisms for the appropriate compilation and use of aggregate data from administrations of the Voluntary National Tests relative to high stakes decisions about teachers, classrooms, schools, or other educational units.
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