PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Performance in public education is viewed as an indicator of school or academic success. The breadth and complexity of education has led to the difficult development of measures of this performance. The raising of achievement levels has become a public issue and new policy strategies are again measured to indicate performance levels and success (California Postsecondary Education commission [CPEC], 1996; Duffield, Allan, Turner, & Morris, 2000). The measurement of this performance in public education has led to research resulting in literature regarding several main questions, findings, and unanswered questions, which will be discussed in the following presentation.

Main Questions Addressed in the Literature

Elliott, Erickson, Thurlow, and Shriner (2000) report that the accountability for the performance of students today is a key issue in educational reform at all levels. Measurement of performance of public education has included an increase in assessment activity during the last ten years. State-level assessments are used as measurements of performance and whether this testing affects outcomes or makes a difference in performance evaluation, remains a question in the literature.

Included in the exploration of whether testing makes a difference are topics such as whether practice tests and preparation for standardized tests, improve test performance, and whether certain types of tests make a difference in m

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thout this type of measurement, it cannot be assessed whether schools are delivering the type of balanced education that is needed (pp. 409-410). Use of Evaluations Yanhg, Goldstein, Rath, and Hill (1999) report on the question regarding what the evaluations are used for. Findings are that assessment data is used for school improvement purposes. For this study the authors conclude that methods of communicating test results to head teachers need to be meaningful and present the full complexity of relationships discovered. Vaughn, Everhart, Sharpe, and Schimmel (2000) further report that assessment plays a large role in teacher education programs and accreditation standards. They discuss existing assessment models and conclude that a multisource assessment approach offers a more comprehensive measure of performance. CPEC (1996) report that assessment outcomes are used to enhance programs to help students. For example, effectiveness of academic development programs such as the Alliance for Collaborative Change in Education in School Systems (ACCESS), was assessed by performance test scores in 1994 and 1995. Seniors meeting mathematics requirements for college eligibility (University of California and California State Uni
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2467
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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