Technical Issues

Technical Issues

Assessment and accountability systems must be technically sound to be useful in policymaking decisions that support school improvement. As skilled psychometricians, researchers, and evaluators, Center professionals provide expert advice on the validity, fairness, and reliability of those systems to ensure they operate as intended.

Recent Technical Issues Projects

Technical advisory committees

The Center coordinates TACs for 18 states and school districts, and serves on a total of 44 TACs. TACs provide expert and independent advice to help states design, implement, and evaluate their assessment and accountability systems.

Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing

Cara Laitusis and Laura Hamilton serve on the committee that is revising the AERA, APA and NCME volume known as the “bible” of educational testing. These standards serve as the touchstone for technical quality for almost all state and district tests.

Student Growth Percentile model

Damian Betebenner continues to refine the SGP, which is used as the growth model in more than 30 states. Dr. Betebenner and his colleagues have been using the SGP model in more than a dozen states to help state leaders understand COVID-19 impact and recovery rates.

Recent Technical Issues Blog Posts and Papers

Setting Alternate Achievement Standards

This draft report discusses the steps for developing alternate achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities and provides guidance […]
June 19, 2007

Comparability of Assessment Results Across Years (Paper)

This paper outlines issues to consider when comparing results across years.
June 18, 2007

Comparability of Assessment Results Across Years (Slide Deck)

This presentation on issues to consider when comparing results across years was delivered at the Council of Chief State School […]
June 18, 2007

A Guide to Understanding and Developing Performance Level Descriptors

This paper describes how performance level descriptors should be developed, contrasts that with current state practice, and discusses the implication […]
April 27, 2007

Convening an Articulation Panel After a Standard-Setting Meeting: A How-To Guide

The final technical phase in many large-scale assessment standard setting projects, when multiple grades are tested, is the articulation meeting, […]
November 2, 2006

Measuring Growth With the MCAS Tests: A Consideration of Vertical Scales and Standards

This paper, prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Education, describes three conceptions of student growth and examines the appropriateness of […]
October 1, 2006

Using Student Longitudinal Growth Measures for School Accountability

There are multiple ways to implement common design decisions for a growth model consistent with the underlying principles of No […]
September 18, 2006

Focusing State Educational Accountability Systems: Four Methods of Judging Quality and Progress

Dale Carlson, a member of the Center for Assessment’s board of directors, outlined a framework in this seminal 2002 paper […]
September 7, 2006

Developing a Value Table for Alaska’s Public School Performance Incentive Program

This paper outlines the process by which Alaska established the Value Table it is proposing for its school performance incentive […]
August 1, 2006

Using Value Tables for a School-Level Accountability System

A paper presented at a symposium during the 2006 NCME Annual Conference that outlines the process of using Value Tables […]
April 7, 2006
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