Provides an update on the current status of high stakes testing and accountability programs in the United States, conducts a review of important litigation related to high stakes accountability, and highlights best practices for policy makers based on the development of the Arkansas accountability program. (SLD)

This brief paper provides an outline for a discussion about the legality of Florida's functional literacy testing program. It defines relevant terms, explains relevant laws, and sets forth the legal basis for the suit and the remedies sought. The discussion is intended to provide a legal and historical framework within which the developments in…

The purpose of licensing and certification tests is to protect the public. This purpose determines test content, difficulty of the items, test format, use of test scores in decision making, and ways of setting standards. Currently being explored are methods to ensure continued competence, and legal considerations related to antidiscrimination…

The phasing out of the Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument (TPAI) in Georgia is described, with particular attention to litigation involving a teacher who lost her certificate after failing the TPAI. Other reasons for phasing out the TPAI are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses the plaintiffs' arguments, the state's responses, and the specific findings in the context of major themes of "GI Forum v. Texas Education Agency," which found that the Texas graduation test was valid and reliable and met applicable professional standards, including motive and opportunity to learn. (SLD)

Draws seven conclusions for professionals who administer state assessment programs from the "GI Forum V. Texas Education Agency" ruling. These conclusions are grouped into observations about test development and observations about test use. Discusses some implications for test use in other states. (SLD)

Discusses the implications of the "GI Forum v. Texas Education Agency" (2000) decision supporting the use of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills for other state assessment programs. Notes that the legal success of the state test in Texas was not due merely to good fortune, but to the test's adherence to legally defensible principles.…

The events surrounding legal challenges to minimum competency testing programs are described, and ways of coping with the experiences are suggested. Discussion primarily is based on five legal challenges to the Florida program although reference is made to suits in other states for contrast. Whenever a student is faced with a threat to promotion…

This article reports on how an incorrectly graded licensing exam for prospective teachers has stalled hiring in some places, sent school districts rummaging through employment records, and spawned at least one lawsuit so far. Those affected by the mistake range from 35 test-takers in Georgia to roughly 1200 in Ohio. Eighteen states use the Praxis…

Note that judgments about the relationship of test items to actual job duties have generally been made as a single comparison, proposes a model for analyzing the accuracy of translations for each step of the process of test development for use in personnel administration, and suggests scaling procedures appropriate for the various judgments. (JM)

This article will argue that cost-benefit analysis persuasively demonstrates that truth-in-testing laws are socially and economically justified but often fall short of providing a comprehensive regulatory scheme adequate to correct the market dislocations generated by an unregulated testing industry. (Author)

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was put forward by President Bush to end what he called "the soft bigotry of low expectations." The Act passed Congress with broad bipartisan support, with many legislators agreeing to NCLB's testing regimen in exchange for White House promises of specific budget increases, embodied in the form of…

One of the major concerns of the California school district represented in this case study centered on the possible legal problems associated with minimum competency testing (MCT). The responses of the district to the California law regarding MCT, and to six potential problem areas, are documented. (LC)

High stakes testing is associated with controversy and dialogue in this era of calls for accountability on the part of educators, and the controversy has been strengthened by the national testing plans included in the Leave No Child Behind Act (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001). A look at the literature on high stakes testing and…

Surveys the legal challenges to teacher certification based on objective competency tests; analyzes the theories of the challenges; and discusses implementation of these tests with particular reference to the declining number of eligible minority candidates. Describes "custom designed" certification programs used by a few states. (MLF)