This paper examines long-range problems caused by test-controlled schooling. It looks at the demands of both curricular and accountability uses of tests from the point of view of the urban school district's testing office. On the basis of interviews with 12 New Orleans teachers and the experiences of the authors in working in two large city…

Ten groups (2-5 members each) of tenth-grade Israeli English-as-a-Second-Language students took first a group quiz and then individual quizzes on the same material. Comparison of the results showed that, especially for weaker students, group work and group grades offered some advantages over individual work and assessment. (CNP)

To find the concurrent validity of two scholastic aptitude tests when a scholastic achievement test was used as a criterion for use in placement of mentally retarded children, 127 subjects were involved. The California Achievement Test (CAT) was used as a criterion measure, and the Primary Mental Abilities test (PMA) and the Slosson Intelligence…

This paper considers the question of bias in group administered academic achievement tests, bias which is inherent in the instruments themselves. A body of data on the test of performance of three disadvantaged minority groups--northern, urban black; southern, rural black; and, southwestern, Mexican-Americans--as tryout samples in contrast to…

The concept of tailored testing for individuals is applied to the construction of tests for special groups and extended to apply to item content as well as item difficulty. It is suggested that evaluators may decide to construct tests on the basis of a unique combination of items drawn from an item bank to fit the need of a particular group. At…

Student test scores are increasingly used to judge the competence of the educational enterprise. Exaggeration of scores is the result of directing attention away from the individual student achievement to the average scores of schools, districts, and states. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (BJV)

It is asserted in this paper that some standardized tests do not do a good job of what they claim to do, and for some testing purposes nonstandardized tests are more appropriate or efficient. Under present circumstances, group I.Q. tests should be abolished. They provide no useful information that cannot be gained from achievement tests. And what…

An achievement testing framework is being developed by the Los Angeles Unified School District to assess the educational progress of 14,000 secondary level compensatory education students with something other than standardized tests. The technique of multiple matrix sampling was applied to the use of large item domains in the subject area of…

Assessment instruments for use with adult learners are summarized; findings of a test use survey of 163 California districts serving adult students are given; and management techniques for administering large and small group tests are suggested. Forms for the evaluation of test instruments and for an assessment survey are appended. Tests reviewed…