The U.S. military services have traditionally used a tiering system, including education credentials such as high school diplomas, in combination with Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores to help gauge the likelihood of a recruit persevering through his or her first term of service. But what about less traditional credentials, such as…

Describes events that led up to the decision to create a Request for Proposals for the Army's Selection and Classification Project (Project A) and considers the conditions that made it possible. Also discusses the conditions that seem necessary to maintain such a project over the course of its life cycle. (Author/NB)

Lessons that can be drawn from the standard-setting practices of the U.S. military services for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are explored. The main lesson, and distinction, to be learned is that standards must be grounded in real-life outcomes that affect the lives of educators, something not characteristic of the present…