Book Description

A hearing was held on the re-authorization of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). Mary R. Blanton, Vice Chair of the NAGB, spoke about its mission and plans for design changes under the re-authorization. She also outlined the role of the NAGB in overseeing the voluntary national test and discussed state-based competency measures. Michael F. Ward, North Carolina Superintendent of Schools, represented the Council of Chief State School Officers as he spoke on the importance of the NAEP and the NAGB. As a representative of commercial test publishers, Larry Snowhite of Riverside addressed several key issues regarding the re-authorization of the NAEP. Martha Schwartz, representative of a grass-roots organization focusing on mathematics education, urged the inclusion of content-based learning standards with a reliable test to match the standards. Christopher Klicka, Executive Director of the Home School Legal Defense Association, expressed concerns that expansion of the roles of the NAEP and NAGB would lead to increased nationalization of education standards and testing. Ambrosio E. Rodriguez , of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, also testified about the importance of high standards. Nine appendixes contain the written statements of these witnesses and remarks from two congressmen. (SLD)