Some of the six themes about high stakes testing, based on English, Welsh, and American research, include: not all stakes are perceived as equally high; pressure to respond to tests comes from more than formal stakes; external pressure is useful for changing content taught; and external pressure is less effective in changing instructional strategy…

The author posits that testing teacher quality will not improve education unless people realize how current means of teacher testing could eliminate from teacher preparation the utopian elements that foundations courses present through material from authors such as Maxine Greene, Samuel Bowles, and Herbert Gintis. He presents a history of the…

In the 1995-96 school year, the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools released standards for student performance in seven content areas and began laying the foundation for a standards-based curriculum and assessment system. The steps taken to develop and implement this project are outlined as follows: (1) defining the objectives and the project scope;…

Discussions were held with administrative staff and evaluators from the New York City Public Schools in order to identify sources of data for evaluating special education programs. Data which are generally available include: (1) citywide reading test scores; (2) number of diplomas issued; (3) number of students decertified; (4) number of students…

In the final stages of drafting the 1974 revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests, it became clear to the committee members that the various drafts of the revisions emphasized the assessment of individuals, rather than program evaluation. Because of its concern, the committee decided to finish the present draft and to…

As part of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, 132 preprimary objectives were developed in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Volunteer teachers assessed the attainment of these skills in their kindergarten children. A profile on each student was designed to report skill attainment to first grade teachers and parents. The…

Sixty-one evaluation products developed or published by universities; federal, state, intermediate, and local educational agencies; commercial publishers; private research and development agencies, and others are described, to help potential users identify, select, and obtain useful materials. Potential users include teachers; administrators;…

The recent arrival of portable computer systems with high-level language interpreters now makes it practical to rapidly develop complex testing and scoring programs. These programs permit undergraduates access, at arbitrary times, to testing as an integral part of a mastery learning strategy. Effects of introducing the computer were studied by…

The proceedings of the 1974 Educational Testing Service Invitational Conference on Moral Development are included in this document. Six presentations cover a wide range of topics concerning the nature of moral development, the predominant educational philosophies in the schools, the distinctions between cognitive understanding of moral dilemmas…

The objectives of this study were (1) to learn the classroom practices, procedures, and level of competency in educational measurement and evaluation of experienced Illinois secondary school English teachers (grades 7-12) and (2) to determine, on the basis of experienced English teachers' judgments, the desirable level of competency for beginning…

Aspects of design and procedures used in the evaluation of a performance contract are discussed, and the project and findings are briefly summarized. The Virginia performance contract in reading was carried out in seven school districts. Evaluation of the project showed that although instructional changes that utilized desirable individualized…

Precision teaching can accelerate basic skills progress of special needs children. Issues discussed include using probes as performance tests, charting daily progress, using the charted data to modify teaching methods, determining appropriate age levels, assessing the number of students to be precision taught, and carefully allocating time. (JDD)

Describes the process the teaching staff of one college went through in developing an exit examination and standards for their English 101 course, and states that students are writing better and that the instructors are better teachers of writing because of it. (CRH)

This report argues that educators need to take a more global approach to addressing educational assessment issues, a universal design approach in which increased access for all students is considered from the beginning. Principles of universal design in architecture and other areas are listed. These include equitable use, flexibility in use,…

Discusses the current state of student evaluation in Scotland. Describes elementary school evaluations as consisting of external tests and teacher assessments to be thought of in linear terms. Examines the more formal assessment structure of secondary schools for academic and vocational education. Concludes that evaluation has had little impact on…