This article investigates the persistent and change elements of educational testing and assessment from 1920 to the present day. I show by examining the addresses and texts of American Educational Research Association presidents a continuing focus on schools, from early experiments and development up through applications in accountability systems.…

This article raises a number of questions about the current unified theory of test validity that has construct validity at its center. The authors suggest a different way of conceptualizing the problem of establishing validity by considering whether the focus of the investigation of a test is internal to the test itself or focuses on constructs…

Responds to letters to the editor regarding comments on semantics, psychometrics, and assessment reform regarding authentic assessment of student academic achievements. Suggests that psychometric concerns need to be addressed. (MMU)

Discusses authentic assessment of student performance as it relates to academic improvement and educational reform. Points out that there is too much testing of basic knowledge and skills out of context, and too little teaching of complex concepts. (MMU)

Responds to A. L. Brown's 1994 assertion that behaviorism and most learning and developmental research impede theoretical progress and negatively affect educational practice. The author first discusses how Brown inappropriately uses the most outlandish research and practice in the behaviorist tradition as an excuse to reject behaviorism outright,…

Summarizes current congressional action affecting educational research and related activities, including appropriations, the Higher Education Act reauthorization, a new research and technology act, and legislation regarding educational testing, youth unemployment and training, paperwork and red tape reduction, and research privacy. (GC)

Discusses issues involved in the construction, validity, and use of tests that evaluate educational progress, especially those that assess higher-order cognitive functioning. Reviews the four articles in this special issue. (FMW)

This analysis serves mostly to point towards some possible productive research areas giving priority to areas that are more easily manageable politically. These are more commonly located within the school context. (Author/AM)

Present discussion concerns the use rather than the content of tests. Four models of fair selection of tests are presented which describe the complexities of test fairness. Implications for the selection procedures practiced in our country are discussed. (Author/AM)

Discusses the problem of educational testing that results in differential educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. It critically examines the proposition that there may be ways to justify the decisions made on the basis of differential test performance that are consistent with the requirements of equality. (GLR)

Major changes underway with regard to educational assessment include an increased role for the federal government; increased emphasis on standards; and increased reliance on performance assessment. These changes are the context for the effort to revise the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing." (SLD)

Heightened demand for testing is seen as a function of public skepticism regarding the quality of public education. Discusses developments and trends in the following areas: (1) minimum competency testing versus higher order skills testing; (2) kindergarten and first grade readiness testing; (3) portfolio-based assessment; and (4) teacher…

Discusses the movement toward authentic assessment, also called direct or performance assessment, as an alternative to multiple-choice, standardized, norm-referenced testing. Authentic testing involves assessment tasks that are real instances of extended criterion performances rather than proxies of actual learning goals. Questions use of…