Reviews standards and accountability initiatives since 1989, including critiques of the assumptions underlying their use and of the emphasis on standardized testing. Introduces the value-added assessment model used in Tennessee as an alternative approach. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)

Describes how the author prepares students for the test using genre study and problem-solving strategies. Notes how she struggles with questions about the role that tests play in schools and in children's lives. Notes the importance of teaching students how to take the test, but recognizes it has become more important to help them understand the…

Considers the motives of corporate America regarding the standards and testing movement in education. Notes that the main objective of the Business Roundtable (a coalition of CEOs of the nation's largest corporations) is not quality education but the preservation of the competitiveness of corporate America. Discusses changes in workplace literacy…

Presents a study in which Chinese students were given items from the math subtest of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) which were found to produce the largest gender differences in American students. Concludes that, consistent with differential coursework view but contrary to several others, results revealed no difference in performance on the…

Investigated whether underprediction of female college students' performance on standardized knowledge tests would occur in tests tapping four subfields of geography. Students completed the Knowledge of Geography (KOG) test. Test scores, exam grades, and ACT scores highlighted gender differences favoring males throughout the KOG. Test scores…

Eliminating the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admissions might seem a form of covert affirmative action. Although it is possible to design a workable admissions policy that excludes standardized tests (as 15 percent of colleges have done), banishing admissions tests to further a social-policy goal indirectly is unsound policy. (Contains 25…

Policymakers are placing tremendous faith in assessment, a technology with many limitations. Assessment-driven improvement policy uses mandatory testing to leverage desired change, but it narrows the curriculum, punishes teachers for things beyond their control, expands bureaucracy, and does not work. Alternative strategies for school leaders are…

The passage of "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) legislation has led to an increased awareness of testing and assessment in public school systems and its impact. A cursory review of the academic literature and national news sources on the impact of standardized testing revealed a plethora of anecdotal cases of students experiencing illness,…

The authors argue that the failure of 60 years of total reliance on assessment via standardized tests to help reduce achievement score gaps must compel us to rethink the role of assessment in this endeavor. They advocate rebalancing assessment priorities to bring classroom assessment into the equation. Evidence gathered over decades from around…

This profile describes the key features of the assessment and examination systems of Latvia. A brief overview of the country and its education system is followed by a description of how summative assessment is conducted using a pragmatic blend of traditional school-based practices, standardized tests, and formal examinations which are centrally…

The overall goal of assessment is to collect information regarding a targeted program or performance. Specifically, assessment involves the identification, clarification, and application of defensible criteria to ascertain a target object's value, quality, utility, effectiveness, or significance in relation to those criteria. Through such…

Students are not numbers, and schools do more than just teach academic skills. In this article, the author offers some advice for helping adolescents confront the profound questions of life. The author's school, Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire, is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, an organization built on a shared…

In the UK, estimated grades have long been provided to higher education establishments as part of their entry procedures. Since 1994 they have also been routinely collected by awarding bodies to facilitate the grade-awarding process. Analyses of required estimates to a British awarding body revealed that teachers' estimates of candidates'…

We tend to overlook the fact that we judge performances in context. That is why people who are generally competent outside the classroom can appear so inept inside it. "Can you read this text?" is not merely a demand to make some sense of it, but often, in school, to identify plot, character, author intent, or at a minimum, to be ready to recast…

Many educators struggle to discover the proper assessment strategies for students. Systemic reform and the standards movement introduce clarity and accountability in assessing students. Though proven to be efficient, standardized assessment such as multiple-choice tests often turn teachers away as they may not align with their classroom practices…