Important Features of State Assessment Systems From the Local Perspective: Interim Report

This is the first report from a five-year study of the classroom level effects of state assessment reforms. The first year examines changes in the teaching of writing and mathematics in Kentucky elementary and middle schools as a result of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) and the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA). This report presents a framework for describing the effects of assessment reforms at the classroom level. The authors describe eleven features of state assessment reform that are salient at the classroom level and compare the perspectives of classroom teachers and researchers on these features. The list of features should alert researchers to important aspects of assessment reform, and the comparison of the two perspectives should help both groups think more effectively about these issues.