The Maine Legislature requested the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) to conduct an assessment of standardized testing in Maine schools to understand the amount, cost, and usefulness of it. This report summarizes the resulting effort, which included a literature scan, document analysis, and surveys of two groups of school…

This article reports on a study evaluating the clinical utility of three clinical assessment measures commonly used in university counseling centers: the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45), the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms, and the College Adjustment Scales. Results found subscales assessing depression and anxiety were…

The importance of applying multiple selection criteria from the beginning in the identification of gifted students is stressed. Approaches which use achievement and intelligence tests as a primary screening criteria before applying multiple criteria are said to be only skin deep. (CL)

The author discusses his observations from administering such tests as the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) to young disabled children in Costa Rica. Cultural influences and nuances of translations are seen to affect performance. Factors involved in remediation programing are also noted. A final consideration is the "barrio…

Developmental screening is a brief survey of a child's level of functioning in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, cognitive abilities, speech and language (communication), social and emotional development, and sensory functioning. Screening differs from assessment, which is conducted after screening and may mean either a diagnostic…

Discusses the entrance examination used by Georgetown University's Division of Interpretation and Translation, which follows the American Association of Language Specialists system. The skills tested are comprehension of content and purpose of discourse, expression in the target language, and speed of work. The condidates' general background is…

This article describes one school district's efforts to improve the identification procedures for an elementary pullout program for gifted students through systematic reassessment and revision. Revisions made in the areas of student nomination, data gathering, data synthesis, diagnostic assessment, and validation are discussed. Results from…

A day care director of a center sponsored by a metropolitan medical center designed and implemented a practicum study to address the lack of a system for identifying and assessing high-risk children. The practicum was also intended to develop a program which would respond to teachers' concerns for children with special needs and obtain positive…

This monograph contains seven articles which focus primarily on formative evaluation for the purpose of furthering the learning of pupils. The articles include: an overview of formative evaluation by Peggy Chnupa; a description of the use of measurement and evaluation as an early screening for entering school children, by Sherrel Marginet and…

Despite the many limitations of standardized tests, schools use them to determine if children are ready for school, to group students for instruction, to diagnose learning disabilities and other handicaps, and to guide and control the curriculum and teaching methods. No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for important…

This paper contends that much of the time and money devoted to standardized testing in the United States is misspent. Too many tests are poorly constructed, unreliable, and unevenly administered. Multiple-choice tests cannot measure thinking skills or real problem-solving ability. In addition, many examinations are biased racially, culturally,…

English and Spanish versions of a guide to testing reform are presented. The guide explains alternatives to standardized testing for educational assessment and shows how these new methods of evaluation will improve education. Standardized tests are used for an increasing number of purposes in the school system, but there is no proof that their use…

The purpose of this publication, which is addressed to a variety of audiences including educators, parents, legislators, school board members, members of the press, and voters in general, is to persuade the reader to help stop achievement and readiness testing in kindergarten and first and second grades and to rethink current educational goals and…

This exploration of educational improvement through student assessment focuses on the Schoolyear 2000 (SY2000) program developed by the Center for Educational Technology at Florida State University in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education Planning Resources Committee. SY2000 consists of 10 functional subsystems that will operate in…

This discussion focuses on the use of appropriate and equitable tests for the screening and placement of language-minority students. It is proposed that evidence on the impact of testing on Hispanics indicates a relationship between testing practices and the benefits derived or not derived from the students' experience with public education.…