ACHIEVE. STANDARDS: HOW HIGH IS HIGH ENOUGH? (SPRING 2001)
States have used different strategies to phase in higher standards. And higher education and businesses need to send more explicit signals to students that higher standards matter. They can do this by aligning their admissions and hiring decisions to students' high school performance.
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS. THE NATION'S REPORT CARD: MATHEMATICS 2000 (AUGUST 2001).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the nation’s only ongoing representative sample survey of student achievement in core subject areas. In 2000, NAEP conducted a national mathematics assessment of fourth-,eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. State-level results were also collected at the fourth and eighth grades within participating states and jurisdictions.
Authorized by Congress and administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the U.S. Department of Education, NAEP regularly reports to the public on the educational progress of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. This report presents the results of the NAEP 2000 mathematics assessment for the nation and the states. Results in 2000 are compared to results of previous NAEP mathematics assessments. Students’ performance on the assessment is described in terms of average scores on a 0-500 scale and in terms of the percentages of students attaining three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The achievement levels are performance standards adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) as part of its statutory responsibilities. The achievement levels are collective judgments of what students should know and be able to do. The Governing Board is an independent, bipartisan group created by Congress in 1988 to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
ACHIEVE.ORG. 2001 NATIONAL EDUCATION SUMMIT BRIEFING BOOK, (Oct. 2001).
This meeting marks the third time in five years that leaders from government, business and education have gathered to consider ways to raise standards and achievement in America’s schools. At the 1996 National Education Summit, governors and business leaders pledged to work together, state by state, to accomplish these goals. Since then, academic standards and testing systems have been created in nearly every state, including many that never before had them. The participants also agreed to create a new organization, Achieve, to assist states in their reform efforts. In 1999, education leaders joined governors and corporate CEOs for another Summit to examine the capacity of schools and school systems to deliver on the promise of high standards for all children. That Summit produced an unprecedented set of commitments across the states to improve the quality of teaching, provide Why hold another Summit? Because our work is not done. While there are examples of schools that are turning things around, the goal of high standards for all has not yet been met. The president and Congress are poised to enact legislation that will accelerate the pace of these reforms. States will be challenged to expand their testing and accountability systems, intervene in chronically low-performing schools, and close the achievement gap that continues to separate the advantaged and disadvantaged. Most states are working hard on this agenda. Most will have to work even harder in the months and years ahead. The 2001 National Education Summit will provide an opportunity for a frank exchange among governors, business leaders and educators about the challenges and priorities that must be addressed if these efforts are to result in real academic success for our children.
