Testing practices in Lesotho are described. The Primary School Leaving Examinations are administered on a national level. The Junior Certificate Examinations, developed by subject committees, determine eligibility for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate. Vocational and technical educational programs are also evaluated. Continuous student…

The nature and quality of teacher-developed tests was studied in a national sample of 228 teachers representing four grade levels and several subjects. Teachers described their patterns of test use, concerns about assessment, and use of performance testing. Teacher-developed performance assessment was heavily used. (Author/GDC)

Several issues facing the measurement community were brought on by the recent emphasis on stricter educational accountability measures. These testing issues include the limits of test scores, effects of testing on instruction, proper test use, importance of the test content, and defining the basics in education. (EGS)

The use of national achievement tests in schools can result in varying degrees of curricular match/mismatch with respect to local curricula. This article explores the types of mismatch which can occur, discusses the inferences made from test scores and their importance, and addresses some implications for the educational community. (EGS)

This digest focuses on academic testing and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. Ideally, test results should be used to improve student learning. Proponents of high-stakes testing say it is needed to measure student achievement and school quality and to hold students and teachers accountable. High-stakes testing is also used to…

The rapid increase in the United States' racial and ethnic minority populations has accompanied a mental health revolution. Traditional models previously used to explain normality and abnormality are being questioned. Therefore, ways in which school psychologists can become more aware of their own cultural background, and thus provide caring,…

Issues in alternative assessment for accountability purposes are discussed. Most new forms of performance assessment are linked in the literature, but all alternative forms of assessment do not have the same attributes in terms of technical and feasibility criteria. Tradeoffs in the validity of inferences that can be drawn from alternative…

Six issues of the newsletter of the General Educational Development Testing Service discuss developments of interest to users of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED) in the United States and Canada. The feature article of each issue is: (1) "Survey of Testing Centers Reveals Trends in Access to Technology"; (2)…

Test accommodations for special education (SP) and limited English proficient (LEP) students have attracted much attention recently because proper accommodations promote inclusion and allow students to perform optimally. A meta-analysis of 30 research studies found empirical evidence supporting the position that, with appropriate accommodations,…

The predictive validity of several mathematics and language variables relative to criteria of grade point average and word problem-solving skills for 60 bilingual Hispanic technical students is investigated. Examination of standardized college admission criteria is urged. Revealed is a disparity in academic performance between bilingual and…

Criticism of the use of standardized tests in postsecondary education centers on: using test scores as the sole or main criterion for admission; scoring practices used for normative or grading functions rather than for diagnosis; and tracking students into different types of postsecondary institutions. (MH)

Reports on a study in which 12 good and 12 poor fourth-grade readers read selections in their original format and with the words in random order; concludes that the results indicate that word identification errors elicited on tests in isolation do not constitute a solid basis for predicting errors in connected text. (ET)

Provides data and discussion about the effect of different kinds of testing upon the distribution of scores for racial minorities. Also considers the issue of direct versus indirect measures of writing ability and the place of usage testing in the measurement of writing ability. (RL)

Two feedback forms have been developed to improve communication between curriculum developers and evaluators during a pilot project involving all subject areas in eight Indonesian schools. The first form involves time factors, teacher difficulties, student achievement, and evaluation team comments; the second focuses on diagnosing poorly achieved…

A defense of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) in response to previous articles in this issue of this journal is presented by the test developer. The defense is detailed and addresses each previous article. (JKS)