The last comprehensive study to examine the assessment practices promoted by school psychology programs was published 25 years ago (i.e., Wilson & Reschly, 1996). Since then, significant changes to assessment theory and practice have occurred. Data from a 2020 survey of directors of school psychology programs were collected to gain an…

Describes three areas in which the graduate community is vulnerable to substandard practice when using Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) scores in decision processes: percentile versus raw scores, cut-off scores, and summed scores. Asserts that the graduate community is generally unaware that raw scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical…

Educators are concerned about overuse or inappropriate use of standardized test scores as graduate school admission criteria, particularly for minority groups. Efforts to reduce test bias are increasing, and admissions officers are encouraged to focus more on qualitative elements of applications, such as essays, letters of recommendation, and…

The context in which higher education admissions tests are used, both intended, validated uses and misuses, are examined. Possible legal problems of misuse are discussed in light of a recent court decision, Sharif v. New York State Education Department. Focus is on three tests: the Scholastic Assessment Test, Graduate Record Examinations, and the…

Discusses the entrenched nature of standardized testing in the educational system, the anti-testing movement and its supporting evidence, shifts in policy since 1980, current trends, the investment of publishers and test-makers in standardized testing, the true costs of standardized testing, and specifically "American" characteristics of…