The 1972 re-norming of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale for children from three to six years of age produced unusually high scores. When these children were retested three years later, some drop in scores was noted. Reasons for the initial scores and the score decline are discussed. (Author/JKS)

Although word recognition tests continue to be widely employed by teachers, the application of out-of-date norms and varying methods of administration and scoring seriously reduce the usefulness of these tests. As a result, a restandardization of the Burt-Vernon and Schonell tests was undertaken to produce reliable norms and to standardize…

This research examines the effects of test format on achievement-test performances of Black children. Multiple-choice test items containing distractors (e.g., all correct, all incorrect) penalize Black children, since distractors appear to serve as blocking agents. The results also suggest that distractors encourage guessing. (Author/DOW)

Assesses the academic merit of an innovative undergraduate program designed to teach students the importance of critical thinking skills and social science concepts. As a result of these tests, students did improve their knowledge of some critical thinking skills relative to control. (Author)

Although American schools are not as good as they might be, most indicators suggest that they are better now than in the past, that they are better than schools in other nations, and that they are generally successful in meeting the commonly accepted goals of education. (JG)

Trained raters analyzed the educational and psychometric quality of standardized mathematics tests for high school students in the United States. Results showed many tests to be weak in common types of validity and reliability. General mathematics tests had, as a rule, higher ratings than applied mathematics, algebra, or geometry tests. (Author/MN)

Issues such as the utility of standardized assessment instruments in the assessment of severely handicapped infants and preschool children are considered. A model is proposed for analyzing underlying cognitive requirements of assessment tasks and for using results of such an analysis for program planning. (Author/DB)

Contends that state-by-state comparisons of National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores will lead to simplistic conclusions and an increase in teaching-to-the-test curriculums. (MLF)

Examines gender and rural-urban differences in achievement and macro- and micro-skills in mathematics. A representative sample of classrooms consisting of 1587 students from a mid-western Canadian province was administered a standardized achievement test battery. Concludes females scored better than males in all areas except mathematics and…

Discusses the problem of measuring the validity of interview ratings in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPI), proposes frameworks to distinguish abilities from testing methods, and considers factors affecting test performance. Suggestions for research and development on the ACTFL OPI…

A study of the usefulness of traditional admission criteria in predicting student achievement found that standardized secondary school examination scores and branch of study were highly predictive of college cumulative grade point average, and that the scores reflected intellective as well as non-intellective factors pertaining to students'…

An issue that has emerged as a technical debate among statisticians, the relationship between British college entrance examinations and degree performance, is in reality connected to contrasting underlying conceptions of higher education. (Author/MSE)

Concludes that standardized tests do not always reflect children's actual reading achievement and that the tests may not measure performance on the same types of material emphasized in basal series. (FL)

Although cognitive style affects test results, students of various cognitive styles are expected to perform equally well on standardized tests. Informal tests seem to be better for both impulsive and reflective style students. Perhaps a combination of standardized and informal testing is appropriate for making educational decisions about students.…