Given the difficulty of admissions decisions, admissions officers must use all of the information they can secure to evaluate a student's potential for graduate study. The various admissions procedures and uses of standardized tests in the 10 schools of the University of Virginia are described. (Author/CM)

Community colleges have substantially different testing needs from four-year colleges. Since almost all community colleges are open-door institutions, tests are used less for admissions purposes than for placement, guidance, and awarding of credit. (Author)

The implicit responsibility of colleges and universities to use tests to match the capabilities of the diversity of students with the requirements of programs of study is examined. Test uses in admissions and counseling are shown to be an important means of predicting success. (Author/CM)

Most admissions officers do not use test scores as the sole criterion for denying a student admission. However, sometimes test scores are the only redeeming feature in a student's credentials. Test use in regular and provisional admissions is discussed. (Author/CM)

The need to face the fact that minority groups are particularly vulnerable to testing, or perceive themselves to be, is argued. It is suggested that tests be used--along with other information--for student placement, advisement, and counseling. A program to improve test-taking skills is briefly described. (Author/CM)

This case study of testing in the Albuquerque public schools highlights improvement of test results dissemination and use through cooperative planning, integrated database development, and a partnership with public media. (Author)

The primary mechanism at Xavier University for obtaining a balance between maintaining achievement standards and providing support to underprepared students is the general use of testing at the freshman level to evaluate students and course effectiveness. Traditional course content, a structured tutorial program, and standardized examinations…

Declining test scores are but a reflection of the problems prevalent in American schools but improving school performance is not totally within the control of teachers. A National Education Association Teacher Opinion Study indicates that teachers think tests become an end in themselves rather than a basis for sound educational purposes.…

Where human beings are concerned and complex behavior is involved, prediction of future performance is no simple matter. Scientifically developed, systematically standardized and carefully validated tests have emerged as the most reliable tools in predictive efficacy. If opponents of standardized testing win, society will lose. (Author/CM)

This case study of testing in the Dallas Independent School District illuminates ways in which the testing program can support a district-wide instructional improvement process to provide a comprehensive and accurate measurement system for teaching. (Author/PN)

Tests must be responsive to the needs of adult learners who offer a unique history of formal education, come from different cultural/linguistic backgrounds, and may have had little exposure to tests. Transfer, occupational, continuing education and leisure program, and developmental studies of students' needs are examined. (Author/CM)

This report describes how one of our nation's largest urban school systems works through the complexities of diverse testing programs, testing schedules, and students to produce timely results that help students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers to produce sound decisions about learning. (Author)

In situations where there are enormous pressures to produce "good" test results, standardized testing can be a very painful experience, but there are ways of using test data to help in the educational process. California assessment data are disseminated widely to school districts in meaningful diagnostic displays. (Author/CM)