Testing has almost completely lost its identity as a device to increase access to college for the underprivileged. Testing today is seen as a device to deny access. Intelligence is randomly distributed among the rich and the poor, and testing helps remove privilege as a guarantee of success and advancement. (MLW)

Reports that the procedures for scholastic achievement in West Germany are established by the state administration, including judicial review of student evaluation. This judicial review is largely formal and not specific to schooling. Advocates the insertion of pedagogical criteria into the legal review of student assessment. (Author/LS)

The issue of interpretation of standard test scores of minorities is discussed. The history of the issue is reviewed. The National Academy of Science's decision to reinterpret the scores of minorities is summarized. (YP)

Four publishers responding to the previous discussion agreed that American elementary achievement has improved, but evidence presented by the Secretary of Education confirms that few real improvements have occurred since "Nation at Risk." Commercial achievement tests provide falsely high scores (the Lake Wobegon Effect). (SLD)

The article discusses how historically Black institutions are addressing standardized test proposals for teacher certification in such areas as admissions, coursework and practice, and post-graduation activities. General recommendations are included, emphasizing formalized, gradual, knowledge-based development into the teaching profession. (CB)

The effectiveness of value-added programs can be enhanced by employing appropriate methods of faculty judgments to support content-related and instruction-related evidence for validity by adapting standard-setting techniques to judge gains observed and by using appropriate caution and research designs when making causal inferences. (Author/MLW)

Describes the teacher-developed California Assessment Program (CAP) writing measure, designed to support California's reform curriculum and based on matrix sampling techniques. This program will be supplemented by literature and mathematics assessments. The greatest challenge is designing an assessment to match the state's new history and social…

Ten metalinguistic tasks of intellectual development were studied in five- and six-year-old children using factor analysis. Results suggested that metalinguistic awareness can be viewed as developing in association with other intellectual activities, and that it can be conceived as a unitary construct. (55 references) (Author/CFM)

The article describes the development of a Knowledge Battery to assess the competency level of secondary special education students receiving instruction in the Life-Centered Career Education Curriculum. The Battery consists of 89 subcompetency tests with items selected, validity, reliability, cutting scores determined, and standardization…

Comparison of college freshman performance on two different forms of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (n=684, 692) found a lack of equivalence between forms and low internal consistency reliability. It is suggested that, although the test may be useful for research, it is not appropriate for decision making about individual students.…

Suggests that when teachers study their children in systematic ways to enhance classroom management, they are participating in action research. Discusses how data for action research are collected, for example teacher diaries and student portfolios. Presents two examples of action research: one on block play and the other on curriculum…

This study compared the academic preparation, aspirations, and first-year college performance of first-generation college freshmen with other college freshmen at Indiana State University. It found that first-generation students were more likely to drop out during the first semester and had lower first-semester grades than students with one or more…

A study investigated gender differences in standardized college entrance test scores in eight subject areas. Females outscored males in five areas; in two, results were mixed; and in one (mathematics), males outscored females. While females' scores were higher overall, males were better represented at the highest score levels. Implications for…

Interviewed eight teachers and principals at three Montessori magnet schools in Kansas City, Missouri, concerning their preparation for mandated state and federal standardized tests. The administrators and teachers generally expressed negative attitudes toward the testing, which ignores the ungraded, holistic, student-centered curriculum of the…

This paper comments that problems with Great Britain's Key Stage 1 standard assessment tasks (SATs) for pupils with special educational needs involve the SATs design and use. Issues discussed include activity-based assessments, adaptations, time demands, step size, future development of SATs, and disapplications of the National Curriculum. (JDD)