CRESST Director Robert Linn is quoted in the Atlanta Constitution Journal article, "Most Who Fail Georgia CRT Are Moved Up."

"I'm not a big fan of having a policy that is bandied about that's saying, 'We're really doing something about social promotion,'" [Robert Linn] said, "... and that being somewhat misleading to the public."

Linn was discussing Georgia's state test that was originally designed to end social promotion in the state. Read the full article.

"There's some gap-closing going on for sure, but whether it's sustainable is another question," given the slumping economy's effect on schools, says Pete Goldschmidt, an education researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Goldschmidt was commenting on a recent report which found that minorities were gradually closing gaps on state assessments. Read the full article in the Christian Science Monitor.

As part of the California Dropout Research Project, CRESST Senior Researcher David Silver is the lead author on a new report and policy brief, "What Factors Predict High School Graduation in the Los Angeles Unified School District?" The authors of this study analyzed district data to track the educational progress of all first-time 2001-02 9th graders, from the 6th grade through to their expected graduation in the spring of 2005. The study and brief report troubling rates of academic failure, but also recommendations for improvement.

View a related Los Angeles Times article.

But [Ron] Dietel warns that the easy lure of simple test scores has not disappeared.

"I wouldn't necessarily expect states to jump back on the alternative-assessment bandwagon," he said. "Even though a lot of states and a lot of schools would like to do it, a lot of people like looking at those regular test scores to see how their schools are doing."

Click here for the full article, "Ohio Education Grant to Study Alternatives to Standardized Testing."

Director Joan Herman was recently quoted in the Palm Beach Post, "FCAT Track Record Mixed."

Read the full article.

Pete Goldschmidt, an assistant professor at California State Northridge and a CRESST researcher, was recently appointed to the U.S. Department of Education panel "Differentiated Accountability: Targeting Resources to Schools with the Greatest Need." The panel will be reviewing 17 state applications for a new pilot study to distinguish between those schools in need of improvement that are just missing the mark and those that need significant reform under NCLB.

Read the U.S. Department of Education news release.

"How fast the scores come back up is debatable," said CRESST director Robert Linn when discussing the new Georgia state math test and its corresponding drop in scores. "Usually you see some improvement in the next couple of years but then it tends to level out," Linn added. "If the scores drop 20 or 25 percentage points, to get back to where you were is going to take some time."

Click here for the full article in the Atlanta Constitution Journal.

"Without statewide data, officials cannot look for differences in failure and promotion rates among districts," said Ron Dietel, in the Atlanta Constitution article, State Doesn't Track Students Who Fail CRCT [Georgia's Criterion Referenced Competency Tests].

Click here for the complete article.

See related articles, "State Bracing for Expected Surge in Summer School Enrollment" and Georgia Braces for Spike in Summer School Enrollment."

Referring to plans by the U.S. Department of Education to require states to use consistent measures when determining that a child has become fully English proficient, Jamal Abedi, an education professor at the University of California, Davis, and an expert on the testing of English-language-learners, said that what's not clear is how much the federal government plans to dictate the criteria.

"Is it in the hands of the states to make that decision, or is it the federal government's decision?" he said. Abedi is a longtime CRESST partner

Read the full article.

"By raising the stakes for students, scores will rise, though probably not by as much as might be expected," said CRESST Director Joan Herman in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard. Oregon may require students to reach a minimum score on an existing state test as one possible requirement for receiving a high school diploma. They are concerned that there is little incentive for students to perform well on the tests.

Read the full article now.