States that teachers must evaluate not only cognitive and psychomotor skills but also attitudes and perceptions. Cites five factors contributing to improved testing: (1) criterion-reference evaluation, (2) school effectiveness research, (3) minimum competency testing, (4) new concepts of student evaluation, and (5) better teacher-made tests. (CH)

Australian research into competency-based training and assessment is very thin and theoretical discussion is often superficial. One curious feature in the Australian debate is the belief by many that competency-based training is possible without competency-based assessment. Definitions are being debated. In a longitudinal study, researchers have…

This report examines the assessment of competence in nursing and midwifery education in Britain within a context of changes in health needs, values about health care and service provision, policy/ideology, and education. Chapter 1 explores alternative approaches to conceptualizing the issues involved in the study of assessment, competence, and…

This report deals with ways to report basic skills test data which would facilitate the identification of student weaknesses. Under study are the technical aspects and methods associated with the reporting of objective-referenced data. An exploration is then made into the use of patterns of errors in responding to basic skills test items to…

A persistent problem in U.S. educational research has been how to explain the continuing low performance on standardized tests by certain racial and ethnic minority-group students, such as Chicanos. This chapter identifies abusive practices stemming from standardized testing that help to shape school failure among Chicano students, and discusses…