Court cases are presented that illustrate some of the issues that courts have dealt with in the area of educational testing. While this study was developed primarily for parents, the booklet should also help school administrators and testing professionals learn about court cases and precedents relevant to some major issues in educational testing.…

Nevada statutes and administrative regulations specifically prohibit the disclosure of the content of examinations used in the Nevada Proficiency Examination Program. This document focuses on procedures to insure examination security. The state's test security requirements are outlined. Other sections deal with access to and copying of examination…

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…

Organizations sometimes find themselves doing things they don't really choose due to: (1) action anxiety, (2) negative fantasies, (3) fear of separation, and (4) reversal of risk and certainty. Application is made to psychoeducational testing in the field of learning disabilities. (DB)

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…

The document provides information related to statewide testing of exceptional students for the North Carolina Annual, Minimum Skills Diagnostic, End-of-Course, and Competency Testing programs. Guidelines for the appropriate use of alternative test formats, aids, or a different test environment with disabled students are given. Included are rules…

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…

This document focuses on assessment portfolios and examines the advantages and challenges of using an assessment portfolio system inclusive of English language learners as a district-wide assessment tool. Advantages of including English language learners in the assessment program include increased school accountability for all students, a shared…

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)

School counselors working with hearing-impaired students are introduced to the preventive legal audit strategy to avoid common civil and criminal liability situations. Sample legal audit questions concern negligence/malpractice, confidentiality/privileged communication, child abuse, testing, Public Law 94-142, and other civil and criminal…

Teacher competency testing for the purpose of screening persons prior to state certification continues to be on the upswing in the United States. Many states have implemented paper-pencil tests, most of which were prepared by Educational Testing Service and National Evaluation Systems. Problem areas to consider when certification tests are used to…

To meet the needs of visually-impaired candidates, Educational Testing Service (ETS) has traditionally provided tests in three special formats: large-print, Braille, and cassette. Certain ETS programs permit the use of the candidate's reader or the use of amanuensis, that is, someone who records answers for the candidate. The primary goal of…

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)