Tag Archives: Conferences

The Standards and Assessments Peer Review

Program Overview

The No Child Left Behind Act of
2001 (NCLB) established requirements for the standards and
assessment systems of states. The requirements include seven
different components or sections, each section including several
critical elements. In order to address these requirements states
prepare and submit a report with accompanying documentation. This
report and documentation constitutes a state’s “submission”. The
submission is then reviewed by Peer Reviewers, national experts
knowledgeable in the fields of standards and assessment.

In reviewing state submissions two things have been noticed.
First, states often fail to submit evidence to address a critical
required element and secondly, in cases where evidence is submitted
the documentation may not adequately address the full scope or
intent of the element.

This User’s Guide provides general
information to help states prepare their submissions for review, a
summary of the essential requirements for each section of the
submission and information regarding specific elements that is often
overlooked.

This Guide should be viewed as a companion piece to the Standards and Assessments Peer Review Guidance: Information and Examples for
Meeting Requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, updated January 12, 2009.

Because the requirements for NCLB
are comprehensive, as noted earlier a state’s submission can be
quite substantial in terms of volume and substance. This may present a challenge for reviewers in ensuring that the information actually
needed is present and that the information provided meets the
requirements. To facilitate the review and enhance the efficiency of
the process we have developed general recommendations that apply to the entire submission from a state.