Large-scale testing programs often require multiple forms to maintain test security over time or to enable the measurement of change without repeating the identical questions. The comparability of scores across forms is consequential: Students are admitted to colleges based on their test scores, and the meaning of a given scale score one year …

Explanations of and guidelines for using the Stanford Achievement Test for Hearing Impaired (SAT-HI) children are given. Types of scores from the test (raw scores, grade equivalent scores, scaled scores, and percentile rankings) are described. Limitations on test interpretations are suggested as well as reminders on using achievement test scores…

The article reviews the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery in terms of its standardizaton and psychometric qualities, and its strengths and weaknesses regarding administration, scoring, and interpretation. (CL)

Offers a procedure that will allow classroom teachers to use standardized reading achievement test scores in order to make appropriate decisions about placing students in instructional programs. (FL)

Conducted survey of community-based counselors (N=743) to determine standardized test use for individual appraisal. Explored kinds of tests used, educational level of test user, and respondents' perceptions of importance of appraisal. Found bare majority used test instruments; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory used most; and fewer than…

The Clinical Skills Assessment Examination was constructed to test the clinical skills of foreign medical graduates. A pilot test of 635 foreign graduates, including 35 United States citizens, and 123 graduates of U.S. medical schools found 28 percent of foreign graduates deficient in clinical skills, consistent with previous research. (MSE)

Compiled information from 31 countries to study trends in large-scale testing. Shows a clear trend toward adding, not dropping, testing programs. Twenty-seven countries show a net increase in testing, while only three show a decrease. Fifty-nine testing programs have been added; only four have been dropped. (SLD)

Discusses the direction large-scale educational testing is heading, pointing out pitfalls in current and future use of such tests. The large-scale assessment community seems to be unconcerned about the central mission of education, the instruction of children. (SLD)

A basic consideration in conducting a career education needs assessment is whether to select published tests or to develop new instruments and evaluation techniques. Advantages of published tests are availability and convenience and ease to use. Advantages in using self-developed measures can be seen by examining a needs assessment study in which…

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children's (K-ABC) systematic effort to achieve fairness for minorities and exceptional children in the assessment process is appealing, but potential for abuse is real. As the K-ABC has reduced the black/white IQ discrepancy, it should have a positive and stimulating effect on this persistent issue in…

This essay reflects on the use of state-mandated achievement tests to evaluate what children have learned, drawing on the experiences of an elementary school teacher and the Connecticut Mastery Test. In this time of increased interest in testing, it is necessary to guard against rigidity of thought regarding intelligence, teaching and learning,…

Most stakeholders in higher education are deeply interested in improving student learning outcomes, but there is disagreement about whether standardized testing programs will contribute to this goal. Plans for standardized testing of college students in public institutions appear to be on the rise. Eight to 10 states currently engage in…

Several surveys of British local school boards' and schools' use of and reaction to standardized tests are reported. Most boards use the tests to monitor for accountability or for transfer or screening. Teachers tend to favor testing but do not use the results. (MSE)

Describes the plan used in Consolidated High School District 230, in Palos Hills (Illinois), for fostering an informed and interested school community by providing standardized test results to the school board, central and building administrators, parents, teachers, counselors, elementary educators, and the local press. (PGD)

Analyzed questions related to education from a statewide poll of citizens in Arkansas. Overall, views of Arkansans are roughly aligned with those of the United States as a whole. About half of the 775 respondents support school vouchers, most believe teacher pay raises should be related to student performance, and more than three-fifths believe…