The merits and disadvantages of standardized and informal reading tests for limited English proficient readers are discussed. A growing reliance on standardized ("formal") tests due to their ease of administration and scoring is criticized because the tests are seen as: inadequate for describing students at high and low ends of the scale; not…

One of several papers commissioned by the National Institute of Education (NIE), this discussion addresses the utility of test-equating studies for large-scale program evaluation and investigates the use of standardized tests in similar evaluation efforts. The discussion begins with an examination of the question, Should standardized achievement…

Reuven Feuerstein's Learning Potential Assessment Device and Instrumental Enrichment (LPAD/IE) system presents a valid approach to assessment, which moves from constructs, to pedagogical theory, to instruments, and to remedial strategies. This system uses standardized tests in a standard approach, but not for the purpose of the quantification of…

Test repetition is a significant phenomenon in standardized admissions testing in terms of the numbers of examinees involved. This study was initiated to determine what additional advice might be offered to test takers contemplating repetition of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and test users confronted with how to interpret multiple test…

This review assesses the American College Test (ACT) Assessment and examines circumstances that can affect students' test outcomes. Understanding the ACT tests is important for using and interpreting test results appropriately. The ACT subtests incorporate both aptitude and achievement measures. The content scope and structure, and limitations of…

Problems of using standardized tests with multicultural/multilingual Alaskan native students include cultural bias and examiner bias. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was administered to 320 Alaskan native children in an attempt to establish local norms for the WISC-R. Results showed that bicultural/bilingual children…

Because testing and the use of test results are controversial subjects, parents and advocates must exercise considerable care when working to assure that tests are appropriately used in public elementary and secondary schools. One should guard against making assumptions which may have been created by widely publicized reports about test abuse.…

Greater use of employment tests for selecting workers will mean that rewards for developing competencies measured by the tests will rise, increasing the supply of workers with the skills. Greater use of tests to select workers will also change the sorting of workers across jobs. The impact on total output will depend on the extent to which the…

A review of the literature on the use of standardized tests suggested that standardized testing has not improved education and that alternative assessments are a more accurate measure of a student's knowledge. A study conducted in Randolph County (West Virginia) investigated whether elementary school teachers agreed with these conclusions. Results…

This handbook contains information about the statewide testing programs in Georgia. These programs provide a comprehensive perspective on students' educational achievement from kindergarten through high school. This guide contains information on these statewide assessments: (1) the Georgia Kindergarten Assessment Program-Revised; (2) the…

This theme issue reviews the advantages and disadvantages of testing. Both activists and researchers seem to agree that tests measure a limited range of skills and that test preparation alone does not improve teaching or learning. There is also substantial agreement among researchers and activists opposed to widespread test use that no single…

This book takes readers through the often confusing landscape of standardized testing and explains what tests are and what they are not. The book discusses how to interpret test scores, different types of standardized tests, and specific standardized tests. This revised edition also contains discussions of the Third International Mathematics and…

Drawing from the latest research, this book explains how little standardized test results really say and how harmful a test-driven curriculum can be. The central message is that the use of standardized tests can be reversed, and that teachers, parents, and students can reverse the trend toward testing to create classrooms that focus on student…

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…

Four considerations that enhance the instructional importance of tests are content match, use of feedback, a flagging function, and the increasing tendency to attach sanctions and rewards to standardized test results. These sanctions are apt to force greater attention to the other three characteristics, strengthening the links between instruction…