This appendix provides a brief description of each of the OERI education reform studies. For further detail, see the reports themselves, which are listed in the References at the end of this report. Taken together, the 12 OERI education reform studies offer a rich tapestry - a chance to look at the ways in which these initiatives were designed and implemented in schools and communities nationwide. Assessment is a tool that can produce and support a variety of education reforms, especially in the area of curriculum.
Assessments help students, teachers, schools, and parents understand what competencies are valued.
This, in turn, can significantly affect what is taught and how it is taught. In this sense, the assessment process can improve instruction and raise standards of performance. Furthermore, if students are to acquire new skills, new ways of measuring their success in acquiring those competencies may be necessary. This study focuses on the evolving field of assessment, and on new methodologies that are being developed and implemented to measure the broader, more integrated skills, knowledge, and behaviors that many students are now expected to acquire. The research discusses exemplary programs, providing models and examples of ways in which these activities contribute to student learning.