Comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the reading portions of the California Achievement Tests. (JT)

Reviews the third edition of this widely used assessment instrument. Concludes that the test is reliable, quick and easy to administer, and that the publishers provide many special services. Lists liabilities as lack of validity evidence, omission of reading and study skills, and lack of distinctions among different types of reading comprehension.…

Reviews the Stanford Writing Assessment Program that has three intended uses: district-wide survey of students' writing ability, diagnosis of classroom or district-wide instructional strengths and weaknesses, and staff development through training for administering and scoring of writing samples. Notes that of these uses, none is necessarily best…

Questions the validity and reliability of the Reading/Everyday Activities in Life (R/EAL) test, which is intended as a self-administered, self-directed, and self-paced test of basic literacy for minority populations and others traditionally singled out by the bias of standardized reading achievement tests. (SRT)

Reviews a secondary school version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) that focuses on two of the primary language skills: listening and reading. Subtest includes a variety of tasks measuring semantic, syntactic, and higher-level reading comprehension abilities. (NKA)

Appraises the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, an individually administered test of reading, spelling, and mathematics for children in grades 1 through 12. Considers the test well-conceived and carefully constructed, though not sufficiently tested for validity in the field. (SRT)