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 book describes how examinations and national assessments can be used to encourage more pedgaogically sound teaching and learning. It provides concrete examples of ways to measure student learning and describes how to develop, score, and interpret tests to ensure that they are valid, reliable, and fair to all children. It offers techniques and…

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…

This book examines the unhealthy and enduring obsession with standardized testing in the United States and how this tool of the meritocracy affects all U.S. residents, from kindergarten to job seeking. Why standardized testing continues to dominate the educational system is explored, as is why standardized testing is such a pervasive influence in…

The findings in Volume I of the Committee on Ability Testing's report (see ED 213 770 and ED 213 771) are shown to be ambiguous regarding the meaning of ability, vague regarding test validity, and ingenuous regarding test uses and misuse. The neglect of the basic question of what tests measure is noted. (CM)

Testing and tests are shown to have played a positive and dramatic role in increased opportunities through identification of educational talent. It is argued that tests, far from denying equality, are necessary conditions for equality and quality. (Author/CM)

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)

Declining test scores are but a reflection of the problems prevalent in American schools but improving school performance is not totally within the control of teachers. A National Education Association Teacher Opinion Study indicates that teachers think tests become an end in themselves rather than a basis for sound educational purposes.…

Many teachers are hesitant to use test results because they do not believe they have sufficient training in measurement. Inappropriate test use is a threat, but teachers like tests if the tests are compatible with classroom instruction and results are not used to the exclusion of other types of information. (Author/CM)

Testing provides a major tool to assure the quality of education and access based on merit. In selection processes, the opposite of meritocracy is not equality but favoritism. Without adequate testing, society will have weaker assurance of an individual's performance capacity and productive contribution. (Author/CM)

Data from large-scale international studies for 13 countries indicate that U.S. students are clearly not the most heavily tested students on earth if one compares systemwide tests by their duration. In the United States, tests are much more likely to be of low consequence for the student. (SLD)

Educational Testing Service's (ETS) international testing of student achievement (1988) was supported by politicians seeking simple answers, but results were badly flawed and pointless. ETS emphasized global comparisons among countries on a single achievement scale, using an arbitrary formula heavily weighted toward computation; actual questions…

Two achievement testing programs in New York City that have had and are having some consequences are described, and how the school system tries to determine and deal with these consequences is explored. Cooperation and open dialog between test publishers and the school district are making it possible to deal with the real-life problems of test…

This article presents the author's comments on ""Lake Woebegone," Twenty Years Later" by J. J. Cannell, MD. J. J. Cannell's article on the so-called "Lake Woebegone" effect for K-12 educational testing systems is mostly an historical account of technical issues and policy considerations that led in part to development…

Research methodologies in several of the social sciences require the use of tests. When assisting social science researchers who seek information on tests, reference librarians do not, themselves, always have direct access to the instruments. Librarians should not only have the knowledge that various print and electronic database resources are…