Defends the significant increases seen in Texas student achievement during the 1990s, addressing attacks on the validity of these improvements. Supports the governor's emphasis on accountability testing because of its positive results, concluding that the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills holds students and schools accountable and provides…

Discusses whether it is fair to students when major educational decisions are made based on the results of a single high-stakes test, focusing on: multiple assessment measures, teaching to the test, testing disadvantaged children, and state standards and testing. Two sidebars present the PTA's position on the issue and how to learn more about…

Discusses the foundations of recordkeeping learned in a group analysis of achievement test data for a Montessori school, including having a student database and numbering system, and recording achievement test results. Describes ways to analyze achievement test results, chart results, use charts to identify trends across school years, and conduct…

Addresses issues faced by institutions attempting to design school profiles to meet accountability standards. Reports of high-stakes test results can be skewed by choice of statistic type (percent of students passing versus mean scores), sample bias, geographical transients, and omission errors. Administrators must look beyond "common…

Presents an overview of the context and clinical principles of the use of developmental screening instruments (DSIs) to identify children with developmental disabilities that would not be recognized without their use. Offers guidelines for evaluating and using DSIs. Explains reasons for using DSIs in pediatric clinical settings and why they have…

Reports on the National Asian American Studies Examination, recently established for high school students and designed to encourage the development of a rigorous program in multicultural education at the high school level. An outline of the examination and its results are provided, as well as an analysis of the results. (GR)

Research universities have started a program through which they hope to influence state policies on tests for high school students, allowing selective colleges to use students' test scores in admissions, placement, and perhaps scholarship decisions. Notes the controversy that state testing has caused, discusses how to define the required student…

Presents the responses of five people in the field of education (professors and assessment administrators) to the recently published position statement by the American Educational Research Association on high stakes testing in preK-12 education. The responses point out the contributions of this position statement and offer suggestions for…

Analyzes different approaches to assess learner achievement in the spelling curriculum. Considers the assessment of spelling and the basal textbook; using spelling words for student mastery based on research; individualized spelling; use of spelling words in context; standardized testing to notice student achievement in spelling; teaching spelling…

Describes the experiences of Texas and California public schools now that new federal testing mandates are in place. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are accountable for the performance of defined student subgroups and judged by test scores. The goal is to close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their affluent…

Heather-Jane Robertson's "In Canada" column in the May 1999 "Kappan" demonstrated a wish to discredit an organization for ideological and personal reasons. Comments concerning the homogenization of curriculum and the impetus of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) to standardized curriculum are pure hyperbole.…

The Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT) measures students' general learned abilities, but student test performance is influenced as much by family environment as it is by formal education. Many colleges use SAT scores in admissions decisions. Students would be far better served if there was a concentration on other ways of predicting success in…

Assessed the dimensionality of two forms of a large-scale standardized test separately for three ethnic groups of examinees. Investigated whether differences in their latent trait composites have impacts on unidimensional item response theory true-score equating functions. On both forms, a two-dimensional model accounted for item responses of…

Examined the influence of state-level testing on high school social studies teachers' practice. Classroom observations of a specific unit and teacher interviews before and after the unit were used to examine the role of a state test on teachers' practice. While the test influenced teachers' instruction, it interacted with other factors, especially…

Hopes that all young people in schools might have English classes that teach them spelling, punctuation and correctness but also help them toward the personal discovery of the Word as an instrument of creation, a power that lies within all of them, a power that might save them. (SG)