concerns, though the large-scale shifts can often appear that way. They affect how much individuals can earn and what economic prospects and educational opportunities are available to them (as well as their children) over their lifetimes. In more subtle yet still critical ways, these forces also influence how connected individuals feel to their communities and society. It is clear that the cost of not going to college, or gaining skills in a post-secondary educational setting, is steeper than it has ever been. Yet key questions remain: What is the skill level and economic prospects for both our college educated young adults, and those with a secondary, or other non-baccalaureate, post-secondary degree? How susceptible are members of society with the lowest levels of education, or groups who are receiving subpar post-secondary education, to lasting periods of unemployment or underemployment? What is the risk that they will not be able to earn a livable wage to support themselves and their families? And finally, if a large percentage of our 30 Henry Braun, “The Dynamics of Opportunity in America: A Working Framework” (Prepared for Educational Testing Service, Opportunity in America, forthcoming); Greenstone et al., Thirteen Economic Facts about Social Mobility; Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level. FIGURE 6. Percentage of population age 25–34 and population age 55–64 with tertiary education, by participating country/region: 2010 0 Population age 55–64 Population age 25–34 R ep ub lic o f K or ea Ja pa n
The report, Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers, calls for such changes in graduate education’s link to the workforce. It also calls for greater collaboration from key stakeholders in higher education and business and recommends broadening graduate education to include the development of professional skills essential to students’ success. The report was produced by a commission of university and business leaders convened by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Educational Testing Service (ETS).
CBAL, an acronym for Cognitively Based Assessment of, for, and as Learning, is a research initiative intended to create a model for an innovative K–12 assessment system that provides summative information for policy makers, as well as formative information for classroom instructional purposes. This paper summarizes empirical results from 16 CBAL summative assessment pilots involving almost 10,000 online administrations conducted between 2007 and 2010. The results suggest that, on average, the CBAL initiative was successful in building innovative assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics that worked as intended. However, there was considerable variation in the functioning of test forms, especially in writing and math. That variation might suggest that the knowledge needed to produce high-quality forms of these innovative tests in a replicable and scalable manner is not yet at hand. Further, although the results described offer a significant start, many critical questions must be answered before CBAL assessments (or ones like them) are ready for high-stakes operational use.
