To ensure that educational tests do the least harm and bring the greatest good to the education of elementary and secondary school students, it is important that parents, teachers, educational administrators, and policy makers be actively involved in test construction and use. The purpose of this Statement is to provide a checklist of some…

The annual student performance information released in Indiana reports information on many different criteria and treats the data as if all comparisons should be the same. However, Indiana needs to set performance expectations that require all, not just some, students to improve. The Indiana Statewide Test of Educational Proficiencies Plus…

Many changes have occurred in techniques used to appraise student achievement in social studies, and these new approaches may put teachers in a better position to notice the progress of individual students and then plan for sequential learning. Some of the deficiencies of traditionally used standardized tests have been overcome through the use of…

The goals, concerns, and issues addressed by a committee of the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT) in the process of developing a standardized Turkish language proficiency test at the college level are examined. The testing committee aimed at incorporating recent scholarship on second language acquisition, teaching…

This report describes how one of our nation's largest urban school systems works through the complexities of diverse testing programs, testing schedules, and students to produce timely results that help students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers to produce sound decisions about learning. (Author)

In situations where there are enormous pressures to produce "good" test results, standardized testing can be a very painful experience, but there are ways of using test data to help in the educational process. California assessment data are disseminated widely to school districts in meaningful diagnostic displays. (Author/CM)

Discusses problems inherent in testing translation students and emphasizes that the test of a translation student will depend primarily on the aim of the course concerned, e.g. tests of students in metalinguistic-awareness-oriented courses will focus on items attesting to metalinguistic knowledge rather than a mere competence in the languages per…

The first administration of the newly revised Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT--formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Test) was in March 1994. This article looks at the historical background of the College Board's testing program, compares the formats of the new and old versions, and discusses implications for college-bound students and admissions…

Describes the development and use of the Middle Infant Screening Test. Isolates factors which directly relate to children's progress in early reading and writing development. (RS)

The Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation (ERIC/TME) provides researchers and practitioners with bibliographic citations for journal articles, conference papers, and reports on all aspects of educational testing, evaluation, and learning theory. The ERIC system and the ERIC/TME Clearinghouse…

The Performance Assessment System (PAS) is a portfolio-assessment mechanism used to evaluate beginning teacher performance as a function of the teacher's approach and effectiveness at increasing student learning. The development, scoring, and use of the PAS are described. (SLD)

Focuses on the limitations of traditional standardized psychoeducational assessments for Ebonics speakers and describes alternative measures that may yield more accurate results for these students. Also highlights the implications of traditional and nontraditional assessment approaches for test developers, evaluators, educators, and students.…

Curriculum surveys are used periodically to validate the use of Advanced Place Program[R] (AP[R]) Exams as assessments of skills required for advanced college-level study. In the case of AP German Language, the target level is third-year college language study. This article presents results from a 2003 curriculum survey completed by third-year…

For some districts, the current obsession with data grows out of the need to comply with No Child Left Behind and additional accountability-related mandates. For others, it dates way back before the phrase "data-driven decision making" rolled so frequently off the tongues of educators. In either case, there is no denying that an integral…

The various ways that standards and standards-based education are being addressed around the United States are described. The education community can trace the start of the modern standards movement to the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983 (National Commission on Excellence). The first education summit in 1987 then became a…