A long-held ambition for many educators and assessment experts has been to integrate summative and formative assessments so that data from external assessments used for system monitoring may also be used to shape teaching and learning in classrooms. In turn, classroom-based assessments may provide valuable data for decision makers at school and…

Many of the recent appeals for educational improvement place great reliance on standardized tests as instruments of reform. The appropriateness and interpretation of these tests remain unresolved issues. Concepts of cognitive psychology should be integrated into the development of intelligence and achievement tests. (Author/VM)

Standardized testing plays an increasingly important role in the lives of today's students and educators. The U.S. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires assessment in math and literacy in grades 3-8 and 10 and, as of 2007-08, in science once in grades 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12. Based on National Center for Education Statistics enrollment projections,…