This Handbook is intended to help educators understand testing, interpret test results, and defend the selection, construction, and use of tests. The Handbook, tailored to the needs of educators, analyzes only tests used by educators. The Handbook contains more than 100 reviews of tests used routinely to make education decisions and assess skills…

Current information about tests and testing procedures is provided for school district staff, particularly in districts without specially trained testing directors. Practical information is given about selecting and administering tests and about reporting results effectively. This guide opens with a discussion of the basic principles of testing.…

Examines the extent to which kindergarten pupil and teacher behaviors during administration of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills--Early Primary Battery may compromise the meaningfulness and usefulness of the test scores. Although extensive variability in behavior was observed, most teachers followed directions exactly and most pupils encountered no…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication to classroom practice, this booklet reviews a number of concepts and issues important to communication assessment. The first section of the booklet discusses several issues related to assessing communication at both district and classroom levels. Issues…

Since recent rises in standardized test scores have once again raised the possibility of cheating, there are a number of things which a school district should do to minimize the problem. These involve: (1) informing staff, students, and parents about appropriate and inappropriate test-taking and test-improvement skills; (2) providing staff and…

Both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced interpretations of student, school, district, and state testing data can be improved by customizing the traditional norm-referenced test. Improvements that can be made include: (1) increasing the relevance of the test to the curriculum and (2) having greater confidence in the national comparative…

Following a critique of so-called educational testing, this article examines three "educationally noteworthy school testing programs"--those of Portland, Oregon; Orange County, Florida; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and one noteworthy school with no standardized testing: the Prospect School in Bennington, Vermont. Derives some broad…

A genuine concern for the condition of education in the United States has led to misuse of standardized tests to measure teacher quality. The tests have been used for purposes of admission, advancement, merit, graduation, and certification contrary to research findings and test developer guidelines. The current use of tests has resulted in…

This study investigates the responses of teachers in Texas to a state-mandated pupil testing program. Based on literature reviewed, it was expected that effects of the mandated tests would relate to teacher burnout and account for differences in teachers' feelings of control over curricular, teaching, and professional decisions. The responses of…