The overall aim was to examine effects of differences in group ability and features of the anchor test form on equating bias and the standard error of equating (SEE) using both real and simulated data. Chained kernel equating, Postratification kernel equating, and Circle-arc equating were studied. A college admissions test with four different…

The conventional view is that the origin of the black-white student achievement gap can be traced to sociocultural and socioeconomic factors, plus variation in parental style and parental investment, and is maintained and perpetuated by variation in school and teacher quality. This article rejects the conventional view, drawing upon the results of…

This essay briefly describes some of the early AERA presidents who were empiricists, several of them directors of research, and how their work connects with some of the issues of design, measurement, analysis, and interpretation today. Beginning with the first president of AERA, a number of presidents through the late 1940s are highlighted, as…

The article presents a longitudinal study of an urban charter middle school to examine the impact testing pressures can have on the education of students with disabilities and English language learners, and how this may lead to a narrowing of the content they are taught. The study examines various sources of data, including the school's evolving…

The history of American schooling is replete with the interplay between politics, economics and social behavior. This has never been more evident than in the current environment of high stakes testing on core subjects that largely ignores other important noncognitive outcomes of education. Within this context, the present study built on previous…

Research supported by grant from the Nuffield Foundation.

This study traces the controversy over the classification of children according to their ability from its origins in the development of the mental testing movement after 1916. The campaign to organize the schools largely on the basis of standardized tests of intelligence drew substantial support after 1920 from the development of research bureaus…

Over specialization in sixth form courses has caused number of university dropouts to increase from 5 percent to 15 percent between 1961 and 1967. (IR)

Two classroom teachers take a critical look at what the double exam system means for the children they teach. (Editor)

In the past two years more individuals than ever before have sued educational systems in the United States because of testing, labeling, and placement practices in the schools. Discusses solutions to those practices as they relate to special education in general and programs for the mentally retarded in particular. (Author/JF)

In this speech, testing experts or clinical psychologists called to give evidence in court cases on segregation either in the school or the classroom are provided with guidelines in preparing their case in document form with sources ready at hand. It is suggested that as much information as possible be available to the lawyer for whom the…

Results of survey condutted by University of Birmingham School of Mathematics reveal the effect of the sex and social class of a student on his or her educational achievement and eventual career. (Author)

Researcher recommends a lottery for admissions and a curricular cafeteria" with an educational menu" because research findings do not support assumptions used to justify traditional practices of college and unicersity admissions and tradiational approaches to curriculum and certification. (Editor)

An alternative to ability grouping for instructional purposes exists. Cognitive developmental grouping (CDG), sometimes labeled "tracking" or "pacing," organizes students in terms of similar learning styles and takes into consideration the child's intellectual maturation rather than performance within a particular curriculum…

The examination of the use of ability grouping of students begins with presentation of the questionnaire responses from 328 school districts concerning how and how much ability grouping is practiced within their systems, on what basis students are assigned to groups, and how many poor or non-white students are involved. Following is a summary of…