The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problem-solving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Examples are given from testing of English as a Second Language…

This paper argues that the standard "When it is expected that a test will be used to make norm-referenced assessments of groups rather than individuals, normative data based on appropriate group statistics should be provided," which was considered secondary in the 1985 "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" and…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) battery are administered in New Mexico school districts as part of a state mandated assessment program. The tests are administered to students in grades three, five, and eight to measure achievement in the basic skills areas of reading, language, and mathematics. This report contains various types of…

Standardized achievement tests are often misused as indicators of a school's quality or effectiveness relative to other schools. This is an incorrect use because it ignores variation among schools in student abilities, family support of education, student mobility, and other factors. People also misuse tests because they impute to them more…

This booklet is designed to help parents gain a better understanding of testing and its role in the education of their children. Answers to questions concerning the different types of tests given in schools, differences among these tests, how test results are used, what test scores mean and how the scores affect students are provided. Several…

This handbook, in two parts, constitutes a manual prepared by the American Federation of Teachers, for improving teachers' use of standardized tests. Part I outlines basic concepts and issues surrounding standardized testing for teachers, parents and school administrators. The terms norm-referenced tests, criterion referenced tests, minimum…

The assumption that reliability is a necessary but insufficient condition for validity in assessment is challenged by exploring a dialectic between psychometric and hermeneutic approaches to drawing and warranting interpretations of human products of performance. Hermeneutic alternatives for epistemological and ethical purposes expand the range of…

A discussion of student and program assessment in the context of Chinese language instruction looks at theory and methods of assessment, and proposes that norm-referenced language proficiency testing is inadequate to evaluate student achievement and program effectiveness. It is further proposed that criterion-referenced tests are more appropriate…

The IDEA Oral Language Proficiency Test (IPT-I), forms C and D, aims to determine the level of English oral language proficiency as it relates to accepted levels of NonEnglish speaking (NES), limited English speaking (LES), and fluent English speaking (FES) designations in order to place students in an appropriate classroom setting. The test was…

Standardized test scores are used to determine outcomes at national, state, and local school district levels; and teachers feel pressure to raise their students' scores on high stakes tests. This study evaluated score enhancing strategies most likely used by student teachers and their perceptions about the degree of appropriateness of these…

Recent years have seen a new and serious commitment to improving methods of assessing academic performance. Schools, school districts, and states are experimenting with a wide range of assessment alternatives. This paper is about this new commitment to assessment and begins with some background on standardized tests because the rationale for…

Student test scores are increasingly used to judge the competence of the educational enterprise. Exaggeration of scores is the result of directing attention away from the individual student achievement to the average scores of schools, districts, and states. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (BJV)

Presents nine articles dealing with aspects of testing and the role of the school counselor. Topics include interpreting test scores, testing problems and solutions, developing tests to predict dropping out, sex bias in vocational testing, detecting bias in standardized tests, assessments of reentry adults, and interest tests for adults. (JAC)

Discusses which kinds of data educators should respect and which they should reject. Asserts that most state accountability tests fail to produce the kinds of data that will improve teaching and learning. Teachers can get the data they need from their own instructionally useful classroom assessments. (WFA)

The documented decline in test scores of the 1960s and 1970s and the unclear picture since then result from educational and noneducational factors. Aspects of the misuse of test scores are (1) simplistic interpretation of performance trends; (2) unsupported evaluations of schooling; and (3) a reductionist view of education. (SLD)