The General Educational Development Tests can be used to place adult basic education students for study, to measure progress achieved, to enable students to qualify for postsecondary education, and to evaluate program effectiveness. (SK)

This book presents a timely, refreshing, and fairly solid contribution to the assessment field. It focuses on differential psychology and psychological testing related to Hispanic Americans, emphasizing the proper role of tests and several technical and social issues pertaining to Hispanic Americans. (SLD)

The impact of the New Standards Project English language arts Field Trial Portfolio on curriculum and classroom portfolio assessment practice was studied in the 10th-grade classrooms of two experienced teachers. Case studies conducted over the school year illustrate ways in which teachers are mediators of standards and reveal problems teachers…

While recognizing high-stakes testing's value, both the "GI Forum" decision and the Office of Civil Rights guide raise questions that boards and educators should ask about the administration and consequences of their own testing programs. Methods for systematically collecting, analyzing, disseminating, and acting on test results are needed. (MLH)

It is argued that the statements and accusations made by Stephen Jay Gould about the use of factor analysis are incorrect and unjustified and that tests properly designed for the purpose can adequately measure a "general" or "g" factor of intelligence, particularly in view of the developments in testing since "The…

The question of validity, or how high-stakes tests are being used and interpreted, threatens to undermine the entire standards movement. Joint standards developed by three professional associations say decisions affecting students' life chances should not be based on test scores alone. Objectivity and teaching to tests are real concerns. (MLH)

Issues emerging from a look at student achievement, which is defined in its usual school context as achievement on standardized tests, are addressed. A mythology about standardized testing has developed, in part because the metaphoric languages of medicine and business have been applied to education, defining it in terms of cure, efficiency, and…

This Digest overviews legal challenges in five areas of test use for decision-making in schools: ability tracking, placement in special education classes, test scores as college admissions criteria, test disclosure, and teacher competency testing. Cases illustrating these challenges are described and include: Hobson v. Hansen (1967), Moses v.…

This ERIC Digest discusses implications derived from the final report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, "A Nation at Risk." The first implication is a motivational one for measurement specialists: it is an ego-booster. The report is replete with results yielded from various testing programs, the fruit of the…

The number of schools and students tested in the Department of Defense (DoD) High School Testing Program has declined since the program reached its peak in the school year 1974-75. Telephone interviews with school counselors indicated that the decline was due to school-related difficulties of test administration, lack of student interest, and the…

The traditional use of scores derived from standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests is examined as to its role in a local school system's efforts to monitor itself and to examine how well individual students, schools and the overall system are functioning. Several questions regarding the legitimacy of well-established practices involving…

Several methods of assessing test item bias are described, and the concept of fair use of tests is examined. A test item is biased if individuals of equal ability have different probabilities of attaining the item correct. The following seven general procedures used to examine test items for bias are summarized and discussed: (1) analysis of…

The uses and misuses of standardized test results used for program evaluation as seen by a staff member of an Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I Technical Assistance Center are described. In ESEA Title I, test scores are used to select students for the program. Although federal requirements do not require using standardized test…

This article presents a model that can be used by local school districts for reanalyzing standardized test results to obtain a more valid assessment of local learning objectives can be used to identify strengths/weaknesses of existing programs as well as individual students. (EGS)

A program allowing students to retest at a scheduled time during the course to raise a grade, by taking a variation on an original test, is described, and its advantages and disadvantages are outlined. Suggestions are given for making the technique more successful. (MSE)