In 1984, the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the creation of mastery tests in mathematics and language arts (listening, reading, and writing skills) for grades 4, 6, and 8. Criterion-referenced tests were developed to assess the essential skills that should be mastered at the end of grades 3, 5, and 7 and to identify students in need of…

In 1984, the Connecticut General Assembly established mastery tests in mathematics and language arts (listening, reading, and writing skills) for grades 4, 6, and 8. A criterion-referenced test was considered most appropriate for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of every student. The specific skills to be mastered were identified by…

Results of the third administration of the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), a statewide testing program for fourth-, eighth-, and 12th-grade students, are summarized. The assessment contains multiple-choice and open-ended questions in reading. mathematics, science, and social studies. In 1990, approximately 155,000 students…

In this predictive study, the variables of College Basic Academic Subjects Examination (C-BASE) Science score, American College Test (ACT) Science score, Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) score, and total number of college science courses completed were investigated as predictors of science process skills and physical science…

California law requires sponsors of standardized tests used for admission or placement purposes in higher education to report certain data annually. Data on each of the 10 batteries of standardized tests affected by the law in 1987-88 are reported, and mean test scores are displayed for students nationally and in California if those averages are…

The REACH-6 program was a concerted effort by the Houston (Texas) school district to revamp the instructional quality in six of its elementary schools, with the primary purpose of improving the schools' student academic performance. This report describes the academic performance of the students in the REACH-6 program on the TEAMS and MAT-6 tests…

A random sample of the records of all juniors and seniors tested under the American College Testing Program (ACT) during 1986-87 was selected to assess the relationships among the number and type of college preparatory courses students take, their grades in those courses, and their ACT test scores. Focus was on the impact of differential…

An argument based on the content fit among a college course, the American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment tests, and students' high school course work is described to justify use of ACT scores and self-reported high school grades for placement of college freshmen in undergraduate remedial education. A utility-based approach to quantifying…

External evaluation of a bilingual education program for limited-English-speaking Japanese and Korean students found that while ambitious program objectives established for the program's second year were not met, student progress was closely monitored and used in planning for the next year. Student reclassifications were reduced. Activity or…

This paper is a combination of two separate essays, both of which examine changes in standards for student and teacher performance in various states over the past two years. Part 1 examines changes in standards for graduation from high school and the introduction or expansion of statewide programs of testing. Changes in the overall units for…

Reviewing research on grade retention, this paper describes tools and guidelines developed as an aid in retention decisions and examines actual promotion/retention policies and practices. Most research on academic and social effects of grade retention suffers from poor methodology, leaving the conclusions suspect and the results contradictory. The…

This paper presents the legal rationale for using the National Teacher's Examination (NTE) validation procedure, which was used in Arkansas to determine cut-off scores for teacher certification. A review is given of the decision, by the United States Supreme Court, upholding use of the NTE by South Carolina in that state's teacher certification…

The papers in this collection report on various aspects of a project which studied the effects of educational policies upon classroom teaching. The background of the project is a set of intensive interviews of 43 randomly-selected teachers in 3 diverse school districts. In "Teaching Standards or Standardized Teaching," the point is made that…

In the nursing literature, many variables have been used in research to identify students at risk, predict program success, and to indicate the best time to identify at-risk students and how to predict success on the Nursing Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). In general, American College Testing Program (ACT) scores predicted…

Statistical trends in the characteristics of registrants for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are presented. Areas of focus are: registrations (registration volumes have increased dramatically over time); worldwide age distribution (the percentage of older test registrants has increased); world distribution (there has been a…