New Jersey Education Association policy regarding testing is presented. The policy recognizes the need of teachers, students, parents, and other decision-makers for continuous and comprehensive evaluation and diagnosis of student progress, but opposes the use of tests for denying opportunities, allocating school funds, evaluating teachers or…

Using evidence of student learning to evaluate teacher effectiveness is discussed. Since standardized achievement tests cannot and will not do the job, alternatives are explored. Evaluators should focus not on test results derived from centralized standardized testing programs, but on results derived from teachers' classroom assessments of student…

The first administration of the newly revised Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT--formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Test) was in March 1994. This article looks at the historical background of the College Board's testing program, compares the formats of the new and old versions, and discusses implications for college-bound students and admissions…

Study assessed the opinions of sophomores and seniors in teacher education and practicing teachers about the use of classroom and standardized tests. Survey results indicated preservice teachers had less favorable attitudes toward classroom testing and more favorable attitudes toward standardized testing. There were no differences between…

Criteria are presented for determining whether licensure and/or achievement test results should be used for making various types of comparisons and judgments about medical education programs. The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and National Board of Medical Examiners tests (NBME) are then considered as data sources. (Author/MSE)

Sixty-three preservice teachers were asked to respond to the idea of cheating while administering a standardized test to their students. Over half said they would cheat under certain conditions, such as benefit to the students or if the test was inappropriate. Cheating considered acceptable included giving hints, rewording items, and teaching to…

Focuses on the limitations of traditional standardized psychoeducational assessments for Ebonics speakers and describes alternative measures that may yield more accurate results for these students. Also highlights the implications of traditional and nontraditional assessment approaches for test developers, evaluators, educators, and students.…

Surveyed elementary school teachers and parents from two cultural groups--Middle Eastern and White Other--regarding their views on standardized testing. Parents supported use of tests to compare teachers, schools, districts, and administrators, while teachers opposed such uses and reported considerable personal stress and some child stress due to…

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is a damaging and dangerous "reform" with fundamental flaws: assumptions that all children undergo the same developmental process and that everyone requires the same knowledge to be successful; the fact that the guide and exams cover irrelevant material; and the idea that testing is…

Advocates for change in educational assessment recommend that assessments of achievement should be designed to reflect real-life performance more precisely than traditional standardized tests can. This paper raises questions about the claims that are frequently made by advocates of assessment reform. It is agreed that assessment practices are in…

The extent to which teachers at an elementary and secondary school in a rural town in the mid-south administered the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) in accordance with standardized procedures was studied. In addition, the teachers' general test-taking considerations, standardized test administration procedures, and test-wiseness were…

To say that assessments must be authentic, dynamic, fluid, and formative is not to say that normative, standardized evaluations have no place in the overall assessment scheme. What is needed is a combination and balance of assessments. The tri-assessment model promotes using traditional assessments along with portfolio and performance assessments.…

Based on material prepared for the California Assessment Program, an argument in favor of authentic assessment is presented, and authentic assessment is contrasted with traditional standardized tests. An assessment is authentic when student performance on intellectual tasks is directly examined. Comparatively, traditional assessment relies on…

Attitudes related to standardized achievement and ability tests were examined among a group of elementary and middle school teachers and administrators whose students are tested annually to fulfill a statewide accountability law. Teachers' survey responses indicated general support for testing and for the use of test results for diagnosing school-…

The way test scores are used by both the public and private sectors, and the way in which this use is promoted and regulated indicates how some public policies are formed and who characteristically bears the cost of policies as well as who benefits. What has been happening in the relationship between test use and policy formation is not unique,…