The problems existing during the reorganization of the Cleveland School District into a unitary administration are presented from the perspective of the head of the Research and Analysis Department. The district had been fighting a desegregation case for 9 years and operating in a receivership with a triple bureaucracy imposed upon it (the normal…

The migrant lifestyle, in which a student moves to a new school nearly three times per year, destroys the continuity of educational programs and contributes to abnormally high dropout rates. Educational testing can help improve educational continuity for migrant students by yielding valuable information about their levels of skills mastery so they…

The validity of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) and problems associated with inappropriate norms were investigated in eleven senior high schools in Phoenix, Arizona. CTBS validity was assessed in three ways: (1) correlation between test scores and number of courses taken in that subject; (2) correlation between CTBS scores and…

This speech deals with the assumptions and approaches underlying educational assessment and suggests alternatives to standardized testing. It is proposed that the assumption that test items can be standardized is at the base of assessment problems; while there are standard mental functions which children develop, there are no standard items that…

Six current issues in the use of tests are examined in this paper. Are the tests used in education valid? In general and to a reasonably satisfactory extent they are. Is the emphasis these tests place on cognitive achievements a serious limitation? Because of the basic and pervasive role of cognition in human affairs, and in the absence of any…

Offers background on issues related to the testing of disabled students. Reports on a survey about testing accommodation for disabled students provided by California community colleges. Recommends additional ways in which testing practices can be modified to meet the needs of disabled students. (DMM)

Philosophical, technical, and practical considerations in selecting and evaluating educational tests for exceptional children are discussed. The following major technical considerations are addressed: validity, reliability, sensitivity, appropriateness, objectivity, and feasibility. (SEW)

This study determined if mildly mentally retarded secondary school students could respond to a verbally presented multiple-choice test of social and personal knowledge. Teacher ratings were also obtained. Results supported the use of two- and three-alternative multiple choice tests. (Author/JKS)

The score distributions of the two methods of administration described in the title revealed comparable means, standard deviations, and general shape of distribution. With respect to validity coefficients, no appreciable differences were found. (JKS)

Since the last "TESOL Quarterly" commemorative issue 15 years ago, there have been too many important developments in language testing and assessment for all of them to be discussed in a single article. Therefore, this article focuses on issues that we believe are integrally linked to pedagogic and curriculum concerns of English language teaching.…

The author offers some thoughts on commentator's reactions to the substance of the measures, particularly those about measuring teacher learning and change, based on the major uses of the measures, and because this is a significant challenge facing test development as an enterprise. If teacher learning results in more integrated knowledge or…

The Raggio Evaluation of Attention Deficit Disorder (READD) is an objective measure for the diagnosis and management of attention deficit disorder (ADD) in children. Extensive research has been conducted on its clinical and psychometric properties, as described in Chapter 3, "Development and Standardization." The READD is a microcomputer…

This book addresses some of the important considerations surrounding the use of tests and assessment procedures when applied to students who are culturally, linguistically, and/or socioeconomically different from mainstream North Americans. Chapter 1 introduces the problems of using standards based on a white Anglo-Saxon perspective to assess and…

This paper outlines how the Austin Independent School District (Texas) tried to deal with the following questions: (1) Should special education students be included in the administration of standardized tests?; (2) Should their scores be included or excluded in the reporting of test results?; and (3) What are the evidences that test scores reflect…

Two approaches to testing student achievement are discussed: (1) traditional standardized tests; and (2) testing achievement on an instructional unit. Content validity is a major problem with standardized achievement tests. Even though test publishers typically consider a number of curriculum guides and textbooks in producing a test which is…