This study clarifies achievement trends that occurred under NCLB and explains why NCLB reporting practices made those trends so hard to see. It concludes by describing important contributions that new PARCC exams can make and warns of new reporting problems that threaten to squander those contributions before they see the light of day.

Analysis of comparisons of subtest scores of 76 students (grades two - six) on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests revealed that, although correlations for the total group were highly significant in both comparisons, a grade level analysis demonstrated wide variability in results. (CL)

This article lists a series of ten defects that account for most of the inaccuracies in achievement tests. (Author/AM)

A few hints for teaching students the skills needed for taking standardized tests. (MM)

Examined ability of Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJPEB) to identify learning-disabled (LD) students. Administered WJPEB to 71 previously identified LD students and evaluated cluster score performance. Used three methods of obtaining discrepancies; slightly more than one-half of LD students were identified. Memory deficits were…

Asserts that the most powerful assessment occurs in the classroom. Argues that assessment instruments must be used in a social context and for a social purpose. States that it is unfortunate that the critical and reflective aspects of responsible assessment are the most vulnerable in a context of high profile accountability testing. (PRA)

Evaluated was the effect on standardized test scores of allowing six 4th grade learning disabled children to have a helper fill in the machine scored answer grid according to the child's verbal answers to the test questions. (Author/DB)

Offers a humorous look at the problem of assessment. (FL)

Looks at ERIC documents that deal with readability concerns. (FL)

Evaluated interscorer reliability of the Spatial Memory subtest, which appears on the Simultaneous Processing scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Responses from 19 gifted children were scored by two independent examiners. Results showed this subtest may be prone to scoring errors because no permanent record of responses exists.…

A study of the extent to which two popular Published Reading Inventories (PRIs) identify the same instructional level when administered to 50 children in grades 1 through 7 demonstrate a significant lack of congruence between the instruments, particularly at the intermediate grade levels. (Author/CL)

Discusses steps that teachers and concerned parents can take to ensure that their students and children are not overburdened by standardized tests. Examines the significance of standardized tests and considers some alternatives to standardized tests, such as more effective parent-teacher conferences. (MDM)

The Los Angeles Unified School District has been concerned over the excess testing of elementary school pupils, particularly those who are in special programs. When the Board of Education decided to have yearly testing of pupil progress using a locally developed criterion-referenced test, the intention was to replace a previously used…

Presents an interactive view of reading assessment, which minimizes levels of comprehension and comprehension skills, focusing instead on readers' oral language, prior knowledge of the topic, and ability to reason, and emphasizes the teacher's role in gathering evaluative information. (MM)

Research on the semantic differential technique has provided evidence for variance in Osgood's formulation of dimensions of connotative meaning. Retest data based on Piotrowski's original sample is reported. Results indicate support for stability and consistency of the Evaluation dimension. Moderate consistency was found in scales comprising the…