Essay tests are widely used to assess ESL/EFL learners' writing abilities for instructional, administrative, and research purposes. Relevant literature was searched to identify 70 empirical studies on ESL/EFL essay tests. The majority of these studies examined task, essay, and rater effects on essay rating and scores. Less attention has been given…

This article provides a brief picture of social studies education in the United States, China, and South Korea. It begins with a brief account of the K-12 curriculum structure and history of social studies education in each country in the 20th century. It then turns to a contemporary look at the social studies, the national curriculum standards…

In this article, the authors explore the effects of Virginia's high stakes history tests on beginning teachers' "notions of historical thinking," and briefly consider the literature on historical thinking, high-stakes testing, and beginning teachers. Data sources for this study included interviews, observations, and classroom documents…

The Test of Language Competence-Expanded Edition (TLC-E) was administered to children and adults with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relative to controls, those with ASD were less competent on a range of TLC-E tasks. No differences were found for either child or adult ASD groups on any of the TLC-E measures when re-classified as…

President Bush's new plan to heighten the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act's focus on high schools is being questioned by policy makers. This article discusses how the Bush administration, with its proposals to reauthorize the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the NCLB, wants to use the law to change the way high…

Education is compulsory for all children in Ireland from the ages of six to sixteen, or until students have completed three years of second level education. At primary level, a range of assessment approaches are recommended including teacher observation, questioning and discussion, samples of children's work, portfolios, projects, tasks and tests,…

Guidelines for the development of national assessment in the Nine-Year Basic School (2000) were designed by the Expert Counselling Committee for the development of national assessment in the Nine-Year Basic School Program founded in 1999. National assessment in nine-year basic schools was carried out for the first time in the academic year…

The present study provides an overview of the impact of standardized EFL tests on EFL education in Korea. To achieve this goal, the paper (1) presents the status quo of EFL testing in the Korean context, (2) explores the nature of the EFL tests prevalent in the EFL testing market, and (3) investigates the overwhelming washback effects of EFL tests…

This study is part of a 5-year professional development intervention aimed at improving science and literacy achievement of English language learners (or ELL students) in urban elementary schools within an environment increasingly driven by high-stakes testing and accountability. Specifically, the study examined science achievement at the end of…

Open learning provides a unique opportunity to professionals for their continuing education and capacity building. Arab Open University, Kuwait (AOU) has been a successful enterprise with an objective to address the educational needs of masses in the Arab universities. Continuing education in the Arab region was the most neglected part of the…

The current study explored differences in test anxiety on high-stakes standardized achievement testing and classroom testing among elementary school children. This is the first study to directly examine differences in student test anxiety across two testing conditions with different stakes among young children. Three hundred and thirty-five…

Admissions committees and researchers around the globe have used diligence and imagination to develop and implement various screening measures with the ultimate goal of predicting future clinical and professional performance. What works for predicting future job performance in the human resources world and in most of the academic world may not,…

This article focuses on how 47 Latinos/as (Grades 2-5) described their day in a state-rated exemplary public school. They attended Tarea, a pseudonym for a test-focused South Texas school. Interviews took place during an after-school cultural arts program I taught at Tarea for enrichment purposes. The most common interview themes were lack of…

This report provides information on test development, test administration, and score interpretation for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The GMAT, first administered in 1954, provides objective measures of an applicant's abilities for use in admissions decisions by graduate management schools. It is currently composed of five…

Intended for teachers, this collection of articles on testing in the English language arts contains the following titles: "What Do Test Scores 'Really' Mean in Educational Policy?" by George F. Madaus; "Testing and Literacy: A Contradiction in Terms?" by Marilyn Wilson; "Throwing in the TOWL," by Mary Jane Curry; "Taking the Authority Figure Out…