The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ), a structured job analysis questionnaire that provides for the analysis of individual jobs in terms of each of 187 job elements, was used to establish the job component validity of certain commercially-available vocational aptitude tests. Prior to the general analyses reported here, a statistical analysis…

The validity of current standardized competency tests for writing is in doubt as is the need for such testing at all. Some tests, especially those requiring little writing, may not be testing what they purport to test (content validity). Instructional validity (testing what has actually been taught) raises the issue that what is being tested is…

The purpose of this handbook is to provide information and guidelines for using data from standardized tests. The handbook consists of six sections: (1) explains the rationale for district-wide testing; (2) discusses a district testing program; (3) presents guidelines for testing which describes procedures for administering standardized tests; (4)…

A series of structured experiences in a wilderness setting was used to generate changes in the feelings and attitudes of students and faculty in the 7th grade classes in the Battle Creek, Michigan Public Schools. The objectives of the project were to reverse racial separatism; reduce racially related, negative black/white incidents, to increase…

Pluralistic diagnosis is a set of developed procedures which attempts to take sociocultural background into account in assessing the meaning of scores on standardized measures. This approach has developed as an outgrowth of findings from an epidemiology of mental retardation which have been conducted in the city of Riverside, California, over the…

Three types of evaluation used in program evaluation and the type of instrument or measure used are discussed. The three types of evaluation are: comparison group evaluation, analysis of learner outcome or product objectives, and process evaluation. Measurements employed are either direct or indirect. Most measurement in education is usually…

Intended for parents and teachers of gifted students (preschool through graduate level), the document provides descriptions in "lay language" of tests used as identification and screening measures in gifted and talented programing. Explained in an introductory section are such concepts as IQ, various uses for tests, types of standardized…

This paper describes the impact of the Regents' Test, an examination which all Georgia college students must pass before they receive their diplomas. The examination is designed to assess writing ability; some of the factors evaluated are adequate paragraph development, logic, effective and varied sentence structure, and precise diction.…

The current controversy over standardized tests is not an effort to abandon assessment, rather it is an effort to develop assessment procedures that are more in keeping with a new set of educational and social assumptions. (Author/IRT)

The author reviews the advantages and disadvantages of standardized reading tests, with special reference to the new national reading tests designed by the Assessment of Performance Unit of the Department of Education and Science. (SJL)

Three virtues of standardized achievement tests which have enhanced their usefulness are discussed, and three fallacies, all the result of overenthusiasm, that have encouraged the misuse of test scores are examined.

The poor and the minorities of this nation continue to be subjected to clearly inequitable policies, programs, and conditions. These factors originate in segregated schools, prevalent practices of educational grouping and tracking, and in low teacher expectations regarding students with low scores on standardized tests. (JC)

Desegregation research fails to show gains for Blacks in either school achievement or employment. For desegregation to work, a multimodal, multilingual, multicultural educational model must be designed free from culturally biased norms. (Author/AM)

The history of standardized testing is examined, and various problems with test content, testing processes, and statistical applications of test results are discussed. (MJB)

Describes the weakness of norm-referenced standardized tests and encourages teachers to use criterion-referenced tests in their place. (DD)