The history, development, and empirical foundations of the Career Decision Scale are reviewed. Its uses in program planning and with special populations, as well as gender and cross-cultural issues, are discussed. Controversies over the factor structure are addressed. (SK)

Discusses how the use of state test results in isolation to make important decisions about schools and students essentially guarantees that woes will follow. Situates the discussion in the context of state-mandated testing in Massachusetts and explains why scores on the Massachusetts examinations fluctuate. (SLD)

Compares direct and indirect writing assessment strategies and contrasts them in terms of the relationship each has to specific classroom decision-making situations, the components of writing assessed, practical testing matters, characteristics of test exercises, test scoring procedures, and procedures for determining test quality. (HOD)

This paper discusses those generic features of school districts as complex organizations which inhibit district coordination of testing, evaluation and instruction. It is based on a selective literature review and four theoretical papers covering (1) school district decision making, (2) the institutional structure of school districts, (3) role…

This article reviews literature asserting that legal mandates eliminating overrepresentation in special education classes may have hurt minority children and argues that such a position ignores the impact of bilingualism on psychometric test performance. The article proposes that psychometric tests be excluded from any aspect of decision making…

Most seasoned test developers recognize the importance of thoughtful decision making when constructing a test. Unfortunately, many classroom achievement tests are created by novice test developed who have not received sufficient instruction in item writing (G. Gulliksen, 1986; R. J. Stiggins, 1991). The result is often a test that is poorly…