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Evaluation of the Voluntary National Tests: Phase 1 (1999)

Chapter: Appendix B: Workshop to Review VNT Pilot and Field Test Plans

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop to Review VNT Pilot and Field Test Plans." National Research Council. 1999. Evaluation of the Voluntary National Tests: Phase 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6324.
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Appendix B Workshop to Review VNT Pilot and Field Test Plans April 30, 1998.

Panelists

Lizanne DeStefano (via phone), Bureau of Educational Research, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Brad Hanson, American College Testing, Iowa City, IA

Benjamin King, National Opinion Research Center, Boca Raton, FL

Michael Kolen, Iowa Testing Programs, University of Iowa

Margaret McLaughlin, Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children, University of Maryland

Alan Nicewander, Defense Manpower Data Center, Seaside, CA

Linda Wightman, Department of Educational Research Methodology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Other Participants

Sue Betka, U.S. Department of Education

Mary Lyn Bourque, National Assessment Governing Board

Joseph Conaty, U.S. Department of Education

Mary Crovo, National Assessment Governing Board

Lawrence Feinberg, National Assessment Governing Board

Steven Ferrara, Center for Education Assessment

Raymond Fields, National Assessment Governing Board

William Morrill, MathTech

John Olson, American Institutes for Research

Audrey Pendleton, U.S. Department of Education

Gary Phillips, U.S. Department of Education

Keith Rust, Westat

Sharif Shakrani, National Assessment Governing Board

Fran Stancavage, American Institutes for Research

David Stevenson, U.S. Department of Education

Roy Truby, National Assessment Governing Board

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop to Review VNT Pilot and Field Test Plans." National Research Council. 1999. Evaluation of the Voluntary National Tests: Phase 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6324.
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In his 1997 State of the Union address, President Clinton announced a federal initiative to develop tests of 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade mathematics that would provide reliable information about student performance at two key points in their educational careers. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Voluntary National Tests (VNT) would create a catalyst for continued school improvement by focusing parental and community-wide attention on achievement and would become new tools to hold school systems accountable for their students' performance. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) has responsibility for development of the VNT. Congress recognized that a testing program of the scale and magnitude of the VNT initiative raises many important technical questions and requires quality control throughout development and implementation. In P.L. 105-78, Congress called on the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate a series of technical issues pertaining to the validity of test items, the validity of proposed links between the VNT and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), plans for the accommodation and inclusion of students with disabilities and English-language learners, plans for reporting test information to parents and the public, and potential uses of the tests. This report covers phase 1 of the evaluation (November 1997-July 1998) and focuses on three principal issues: test specifications and frameworks; preliminary evidence of the quality of test items; and plans for the pilot and field test studies, for inclusion and accommodation, and for reporting VNT results.

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