Approaching Standards for Mathematics Assessment. ERIC/CSMEE Digest

ERIC Educational Reports, Jul 01, 1993 by Patricia A. Brosnan, Martin D. Hartog

2. Assessment practices will promote the development of mathematical power for all students.

3. A variety of effective assessment methods will be used to evaluate outcomes of mathematics education.

4. Adequate accountability systems will be used to assess mathematics.

5. Guidelines will be developed for judging the quality of all forms of mathematics assessments.

6. Mathematics teachers and school administrators will be proficient in using a wide variety of assessment methods for improving the learning and teaching of mathematics.

7. The public will become better informed about assessment and assessment practices (Mathematical Sciences Education Board, 1991, pp. 16-19).

As a result of this summit, the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) based in Rochester, NY and the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) were charged with the task of developing The New Standards Project. This Project team would produce standards for assessment that would align with previous standards in curriculum and teaching in mathematics, as well as in other academic disciplines. These standards will emphasize the ability to think well, to demonstrate a real understanding of subjects studied and to apply what one knows to the kind of complex problems encountered in life. The New Standards Project system will employ advanced forms of performance assessment, including portfolios, exhibitions, projects and timed performance examinations, all based on the use of real-life tasks that students are asked to do alone and in groups. Some tasks can be completed in minutes, but others will take weeks or even months. The first valid, reliable, and fair exams will be available for use in mathematics by 1994.

The goal is not simply to measure student performance, but to improve it significantly. The following principles, developed by the New Standards team, provide the framework from which the new assessment standards will emerge.

Principles

1. It is possible to have an educational system that is both equitable and excellent.

2. Student performance standards and assessment systems will be designed to help bring all groups of students to high levels of performance.

3. Children should not be denied the right to a first-class education because they go to school in one state rather than another or in one school district rather than another.

4. The standards set will emphasize thinking and students' capacities to use what they know outside a school setting.

5. Although the standards will be uniform, schools will be free to use very different methods to help students achieve the new standards through a variety of means that will enable them to take advantage of the strengths of their backgrounds and experiences.

6. Standards will be set through a public process that engages all sectors of society throughout the nation.

7. Assessments will be deliberately designed as targets for instruction and learning.

8. Teachers and content specialists will be actively involved in developing, grading, and interpreting the assessments.