Reviews four new instruments designed to assess multicultural counseling competence in trainees and practicing professionals: Cross-Cultural Counseling Inventory-Revised; Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale-Form B; Multicultural Counseling Inventory; and Multicultural Awareness-Knowledge-and-Skills Survey. Posits specific research suggestions…

Considers ways to implement the International Guidelines for Test Use (International Test Commission, 2001) to maximize their intended impact . The process calls for customizing the guidelines for specific assessment contexts and needs and using the guidelines to generate competency standards. (SLD)

Contains guidelines that provide an international view of areas of consensus about what constitutes "good practice" in test use. Guidelines address key competencies, such as knowledge and skills, and issues of professional and ethical standards in testing, the rights of test takers, test administration and scoring, and other issues. (SLD)

Describes results of research by the Test User Qualifications Working Group that can be applied to improving testing practices, including 86 test use competencies and 7 factors accounting for misuse; a test classification system; and empirically based test purchaser qualification forms. (SLD)

Summarizes article written in 1972 which concluded that most counselors were not using standardized tests well, because of intrinsic limitations of the tests and insufficient technical competence among counselors. Discusses methods to remedy situation that could be taken by both test developers and counselors. (NB)

The issue of test user competency arises from the question of restrictions on the use of psychological tests. The only justifiable basis for restricting test use is one that reflects the skills and competencies of the user. Ultimately, only professional judgment determines whether a test is properly used. (SLD)

Whether a feasible a priori factor structure can be identified for the Mississippi Teacher Assessment Instruments (MTAI) was studied through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ratings of 194 student teachers. Analyses support some degree of construct validity, but expected factor structures were not identified. (SLD)

Reviews Leo Goldman's (1972) assertion of failed relationship between tests and counseling. Reviews seven suggestions made by Goldman to remedy situation and considers how they have affected the relationship between tests and counseling. Concludes that relationship remains intact, chiefly in the field of career counseling. (NB)

Responds to Goldman's (1972) article asserting failed relationship between tests and counseling. Describes basis for renewed relationship between tests and career counseling. Reviews reasons Goldman cited for failed testing-counseling relationship, then focuses on two of Goldman's major themes: problems with selection-oriented, prediction models…

A discussion on the tension between university organizational interests and individual student interests with respect to the use of admissions tests is presented. Responsibilities of colleges and professional schools toward an increasingly pluralistic society are examined, and the need for more research on evaluating human competencies is urged.…

A study investigated performance of 51 second-year internal medicine residents on an objective structured clinical examination and analyzed the test's role in evaluating clinical competence. The examination included nine physical diagnoses and several test-interpretation stations. Performance was analyzed statistically and correlated with…

One means of establishing the validity of performance-based assessments is to determine whether the criteria for basic competencies on performance tests are reasonable in relation to expected (nationally normed) age-level performance. Links between performances on three assessments in Michigan and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills illustrate…

The purposes of this paper are to analyze some problems in using student test scores to evaluate teachers and to propose an achievement-based model for teacher evaluation that is effective, affordable, fair, legally defensible, and politically acceptable. The system is designed for detecting and documenting poor teacher performance. (Auth/JAZ)