Three new tests presented as alternatives to the Wechsler tests for children were described in earlier papers of this session. This discussion reviews the earlier papers and comments on the developed tests: (1) the Woodcock-Johnson test; (2) the new Stanford-Binet; and (3) the K-ABC. The Woodcock-Johnson battery, state-of-the-art applications of…

Four papers presented at the National Council on Measurement in Education meeting are critiqued. G. R. Mandeville and H. Heidari (1988), in a study of unusually effective schools, asked if correlations among cohorts of schools differ depending on the method of analysis used. It is suggested that it would be better to ask whether schools identified…

Test validity, coaching, the college admissions process, and achievement tests are discussed by the director of the Iowa Testing Programs. Data published on the SAT are examined. It is suggested that systematic instruction in problem-solving skills may improve not only test performance but also skills the test is designed to assess. (Author/MLW)

Five papers on the assessment of writing ability presented at the Division D meeting are critiqued. It is suggested that it is not possible to conclude--as has Larson in his study of grades 4, 6, and 8--that National Assessment of Educational Progress results do not give evidence of growth in writing ability. Dovell and Buhr, examining approaches…