PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] will be in the news again this year. The 2018 results are due to be released at the end of 2019 and they usually generate media interest. This Rangahau Whakarapopoto is a research brief which outlines things to watch out for as you think about what the results might mean.

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education system has seen immense shifts in its approach to schooling. Previously, students were taught using an extant curriculum with the instructional methods of the teachers at the school; there was little systematic modification to curriculum and methods; and the variable underlying…

Suggestions for change include development of new kinds of tests, higher standards for both tests and test users, and collaboration by test authors, publishers, and counselors within AMEG in an effort to prevent a complete dissolution of the marriage between tests and the counseling process. (Author)

Kapes and Sievert's (1973) research on the difference between wooden and plastic peg boards for the GATB is replicated. The results indicate that individuals tested on the wooden equipment perform significantly higher than those tested on the plastic equipment. (Author/PC)

Notes that while across large groups of students two tests may be highly correlated, specific characteristics of tests may interact with specific characteristics of students to yield differences in scores for one individual on two or more tests. (FL)

When individuals are given tests that are too hard or too easy, the resulting scores are likely to be poor estimates of their performance. To get valid and accurate test scores that provide meaningful results, one should use functional-level testing (FLT). FLT is the practice of administering to an individual a version of a test with a difficulty…

The implications of standardized testing for minority students are explored. Test terminology is described in terms of objectivity, standardization, reliability, and validity. Primarily, however, the paper reviews the objectivity of standardized testing, that is, of those tests which are either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. The use of…

The place of testing in education is discussed. It is concluded that tests should be used as the supplements they are intended to be, and they should be used after thorough examination of their suitability has been made by test and education experts. (Author)

This paper briefly describes three studies in which the Paired Hands Test was used to assess the other-concept as a means of evaluating project or program objectives. The first study involved the use of the Paired Hands Test to evaluate an Afro-American Curriculum Project in which teachers recieved training in the development of a curriculum…

Suggests that the idea of testing be given up, along with the measurement of reading and the idea of reading progress. (AM)

Testing and assessment have become extremely important components of the educational program. The purpose of this position paper is to provide factual and policy-related information that may be of use to school boards as they design or improve their districts' testing and assessment policies. It is the New York State policy that school boards…

Article presented a true story of how two cities ran testing programs and the lessons that can be learned from their failures. (Editor/RK)

The decline in scholastic aptitude test ( SAT) scores does not signify that the quality of education is lower. To interpret this decline requires an understanding of the testing process, changing racial and sex mix of the test makers, changing lifestyle of youth, and the increase in the number of students taking the SAT. (Author/AM)