This document for participants comprises the proceedings of a fifth national conference on the retention of black college students. The conference consisted of 2 preconference workshops, 7 general sessions, and 21 concurrent sessions. A total of 68 selected papers were presented. Preconference workshops focused on the freshman year experience and…

Careful management of a testing program can greatly limit a teacher's opportunity to cheat while administering standardized tests to students and can increase the likelihood that such cheating will be detected. The Austin Independent School District's systemwide testing staff's plan for controlling cheating has three basic premises: (1) plan and…

Overreliance on standardized testing sends a message to students that learning is remembering facts, and that intelligence is a function of how quickly people can do things. In schools around the country, the content and style of teaching are being placed in the service of the tests. (MLF)

Rather than establish a national test, we should examine what other industrialized nations require of their children. Persistence and creativity are not easily tested, and results are bound to be oversimplified. Developing basic American education standards is appropriate only if every public school is equipped with adequate resources. (MLH)

This survey on modifications allowed for students with disabilities by 30 states in statewide criterion-referenced testing programs found no universal agreement about modifications. Accommodations in Test Setting and Test Scheduling were more frequently allowed than revisions in Test Directions or Test Format. Assistance devices and accommodations…

Many state optometric licensing boards require a scaled or percentage score of 75 on each section. A study of multiple criteria and pass-fail rates suggests that high failure rates are a result not of candidate ability but of arbitrary classification of test content. State boards are encouraged to resolve these problems. (MSE)

Current information about tests and testing procedures is provided for school district staff, particularly in districts without specially trained testing directors. Practical information is given about selecting and administering tests and about reporting results effectively. This guide opens with a discussion of the basic principles of testing.…

Examines the extent to which kindergarten pupil and teacher behaviors during administration of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills--Early Primary Battery may compromise the meaningfulness and usefulness of the test scores. Although extensive variability in behavior was observed, most teachers followed directions exactly and most pupils encountered no…

Argues that standardized testing undermines creativity and individuality. Contends that standardized testing has more to do with control of education than excellence, and discusses the impact of the National Assessment of Educational Progress on educational control. Maintains that flexible, alternative testing can evaluate student performance…

The content of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act is described, its current interpretations are examined, and the implications for developing a responsible language and citizenship curriculum to conform to the legislation are discussed. Specific attention is focused on the law's requirement that illegal aliens applying for amnesty and…

Both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced interpretations of student, school, district, and state testing data can be improved by customizing the traditional norm-referenced test. Improvements that can be made include: (1) increasing the relevance of the test to the curriculum and (2) having greater confidence in the national comparative…

Following a critique of so-called educational testing, this article examines three "educationally noteworthy school testing programs"--those of Portland, Oregon; Orange County, Florida; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and one noteworthy school with no standardized testing: the Prospect School in Bennington, Vermont. Derives some broad…

A genuine concern for the condition of education in the United States has led to misuse of standardized tests to measure teacher quality. The tests have been used for purposes of admission, advancement, merit, graduation, and certification contrary to research findings and test developer guidelines. The current use of tests has resulted in…

Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…