Just as the Grey Squirrel and the Little Owl were brought to England by well-intentioned enthusiasts so also are well meaning educational enthusiasts anxious to import attainment tests from America. In the former case the results were disastrous for ecology and this research stresses some of the lessons to be learned from the American experience…

Competency-based graduation requirements provide students with a meaningful diploma, reduce illiteracy, and provide a system of quality control for schools. (Author)

Discusses what evaluation is and presents a theoretical framework for planning and conducting educational evaluation. Also includes an extensive annotated bibliography. (SL)

Describes Phase Four (contextualized literacy assessment) in the evolution of writing assessment, which would replace accountability approaches to assessment with an ecological model focusing on good instruction. Itemizes specific changes which could accompany movement into Phase Four by established assessment communities. (MM)

This theme issue focuses on the use and consequences of high stakes tests. The lead article, "High-Stakes Testing: Too Much? Too Soon?" by Sherry Freeland Walker, introduces the topic and related issues, outlining the pros and cons of high stakes testing by the states. The problem, some experts say, is that states have tried to do too much too…

Considerable testing occurs in the schools and in related educational settings. Schools are microcosms of society, and changes that affect society are also likely to affect the schools in similar ways. The composition of American society has been changing dramatically in recent years, and this particular change is one that has influenced schools…

This paper provides information on testing programs for elementary and secondary school students that are administered or coordinated by the Office of Educational Accountability within the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction. The first section provides background and definitions of assessment alternatives, including various types of…

The first section of this report guides Delaware educators through the decision-making process for participation in the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) for students with disabilities and for students who are dually eligible as a student with a disability and limited English proficient (SD/LEP).The second section will guide Delaware…

The performance of black youths in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns. The authors discuss Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning,…

An indictment of the ways in which reading and mathematics standardized tests affect classroom curricula. (Author)

Author attempts to determine whether testing perpetuates a misevaluation of children's abilities. (Editor/RK)

The present study was conducted to determine (1) if the quantitative section of the Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business is more speeded for black examinees than for white, and (2) if reducing or increasing the degree of speededness has a differential effect on the scores of minority versus majority group members. (Author)

The focus of this article is on discrimination in the use of educational and psychological tests requirements in the hiring of minority groups. (Author/AG)

American Federation of Teachers research shows that teachers are critical of many aspects of testing, but would prefer to see tests improved rather than eliminated. They are interested in tests as a part of instructional programs and recognize that testing information is only one of many criteria used in evaluation. (Author/CM)