Wellstone has also introduced a bill that would implement the NRC's 1999 recommendations. As the Monitor went to press, Rep. Scott planned to introduce a companion to that bill in the House of Representatives. As states increasingly rely on large-scale educational assessments, it's crucial that the best scientific information should be brought to bear in developing and implementing assessment and accountability programs, said Baker. Tests are aligned with states' curriculum standards, so that teachers can prepare students to succeed. Tests measure only the academic domain of interest, without unwittingly emphasizing extraneous factors.
Tests are sensitive to school quality differences.
Finally, Baker recommended, states should evaluate the effects of ongoing testing efforts. Addressing testing concerns Other panelists at the briefing addressed concerns that critics have raised about high-stakes educational assessments. She argued that President Bush's education plan, which is even more ambitious, may be unrealistic. Critics have also expressed concern that high-stakes tests, if designed or implemented inappropriately, may draw an inaccurate picture of student achievement and unfairly jeopardize students or schools that are making genuine efforts to improve. Many of these concerns are addressed by the NRC's 1999 report on high-stakes testing, noted psychologist Pat DeVito, PhD, director of NRC's Board on Testing and Assessment, who described the report's main recommendations at the briefing.