This book is designed to provide fundamental information concerning the procedures necessary to administer, score, interpret, and report findings from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent[TM] (MMPI-A), the most widely used objective personality assessment instrument for adolescents. The chapters are: (1) "Overview";…

This book takes readers through the often confusing landscape of standardized testing and explains what tests are and what they are not. The book discusses how to interpret test scores, different types of standardized tests, and specific standardized tests. This revised edition also contains discussions of the Third International Mathematics and…

This book describes how examinations and national assessments can be used to encourage more pedgaogically sound teaching and learning. It provides concrete examples of ways to measure student learning and describes how to develop, score, and interpret tests to ensure that they are valid, reliable, and fair to all children. It offers techniques and…

Selections in this reader explore some current and influential thinking about learning and assessment. It provides a theoretical framework for considering past and current developments in research into the mind and learning. The chapters are: (1) "On Becoming Labeled--the Story of Adam" (R.P. McDermott); (2) "Reconstructing Educational Psychology"…

Drawing from the latest research, this book explains how little standardized test results really say and how harmful a test-driven curriculum can be. The central message is that the use of standardized tests can be reversed, and that teachers, parents, and students can reverse the trend toward testing to create classrooms that focus on student…

This book examines the unhealthy and enduring obsession with standardized testing in the United States and how this tool of the meritocracy affects all U.S. residents, from kindergarten to job seeking. Why standardized testing continues to dominate the educational system is explored, as is why standardized testing is such a pervasive influence in…

Representing a comprehensive description of the use of informal reading inventories (IRIs), this book is designed to provide teachers and reading specialists with practical strategies for forming diagnostic impressions that are useful for planning reading instruction. Respectively, chapters discuss (1) the purpose and nature of IRIs; (2)…

This book discusses the achievement tests used in educational planning, transitional programming for students with disabilities, and career/vocational planning. Designed to help mental health professionals acquire knowledge and skills quickly, it includes the major individually administered tests. The chapters are: (1) "Overview"; (2)…

The Assessment Bridge uses four major components to span the gaps between testing, curriculum, and change. The book focuses on the context in which educational testing operates and suggests a view of testing, not as a narrowing of the curriculum, but as a way to deepen teachers involvement in creating the ideas that must be assessed so that…

This book explains how to administer, score, and interpret the Basic Reading Inventory. Included are graded word lists and graded passages that can be used with students to help place them in appropriate reading materials, to assess their comprehension, and to determine their strategies for word identification. Significant additions to the seventh…

Intended for educators seeking information on direct writing assessments, this monograph describes general procedures for planning and conducting a writing assessment and strategies for tailoring that assessment to local needs. The introductory chapter offers a brief comparison of direct and indirect writing assessment methods, highlighting those…

This book originated from a conference arranged to honor the professional contributions of William D. Schafer on his retirement. In recognition of his interest in the subject, each chapter is an effort by one or more professionals to describe what they think the future of assessment should be. The chapters are: (1) What Will Teachers Know about…

In the United States today tests of the ability to perform well in school divide society and define opportunity. Higher education has become a major focus of aspirations people hold for their children, and educational testing determines who qualifies for higher education. This history recounts the development of intelligence testing and its early…

The focus of this book is on the way professionals use and make sense of test assessment data in their counseling. The book is oriented specifically toward those training to be psychologists or counselors, especially those interested in a scientist-practitioner orientation to clinical practice. Each of the chapters presents a perspective on test…

This book is a practical guide to help parents understand educational assessment. It shows how good student assessment actually enhances learning, and it provides a foundation for building community support for effective practices. It offers advice about improving communication between home and school, and explains how to build strong…