Research Monograph
Criteria for Alignment of Expectations and Assessments in Mathematics and Science Education
Norman L. Webb
Abstract
Alignment is central to current efforts of systemic and standards-based education reforms in mathematics and science. More than four-fifths of the states have content frameworks in place in mathematics or science. A large number of these have some form of a statewide assessment to measure student attainment of expectations given in the frameworks. These reforms are based, in part, on the premise that student outcomes will be improved through creating coherent systems of expectations and assessments. Expectations are major elements of educational policy on what students should know about mathematics and science and what they should be able to do with that knowledge. Assessments are major elements of educational policy used to measure student achievement and are classroom tools used by teachers. All assessments used within a state or district constitute an assessment system. The purpose of this monograph is to define criteria for judging the alignment between expectations and assessments.
States and districts were found to use three general approaches for judging the alignment among expectations and assessments. A number of states and districts develop documents in sequence, such as first standards, then curriculum frameworks, and then assessments. These documents are aligned because they were developed to be, with the previously developed document forming the blueprint for the next document. Other systems hire experts to review expectations and assessments. A third approach, used by the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, is to systematically analyze both expectations and assessments using a common metric. Specific criteria for judging the alignment, however, were missing from all three approaches.
Twelve criteria for judging alignment grouped into five general categories are described along with examples and levels of agreement. The five general categories are content focus, articulation across grades and ages, equity and fairness, pedagogical implications, and system applicability. The criteria were created to provide guidance to state or district officials on the important aspects of expectations and assessments that need to be considered in some detail to have a coherent system where the power of these policy documents converges to better support students' learning of important mathematics and science.
The criteria were developed with the input of an expert panel formed as a cooperative effort between the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Institute for Science Education. A shorter version of this paper was published as an NISE Brief, January 1997.