The integration of testing and learning are discussed as urgent tasks for test developers, examiners, and guidance specialists. The implications of Edmonds' concept of educational equity (see TM 506 980) and Krumboltz's view of the role of testing in guidance (see TM 506 981) are analyzed. (CM)

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)

Innovations in testing and guidance which can integrate assessment to facilitate learning, help develop practical wisdom in behavior, and correct students' faulty cognitions in career decisions are described. (CM)

Teachers have become aware that they are expected to make judgments and be judged on the basis of test results. In a shared responsibility among teachers, training institutions, testing companies, and school boards, fair use of tests requires that teachers get information on types of tests and test use. (Author/CM)

A number of major studies are discussed concerning the effects of testing on schools and needed changes in test use to improve education. Test use is analyzed at building and classroom levels for insights on better education, and at local, state, and national levels for oversights of educational progress. (Author/CM)

An essential element in establishing educational equity is the use of educational testing and standardized norm-referenced tests, in particular, to identify and analyze problems in school effectiveness. The performance of children from low-income families is the best indicator of school response to minimum skills needs. (CM)

Many factors can influence teachers' attitudes toward tests and some of those factors have nothing to do with the test's contents or subject matter. When the purposes and uses of tests results are not explained, teacher attitudes will be affected negatively. Testing on subject matter should be used in teacher certification and evaluation.…

Three students' concerns about testing range from the conditions under which tests are taken to what tests actually measure, to the personal sacrifices high school students must make to take nationally administered examinations. (Author/CM)

Guidance counselors are responsible for helping teachers, students, and parents understand as much as possible about the school's testing program and each student's performance. The purposes and uses of tests are important in the context of the student's future. (Author/CM)

Testing and tests are shown to have played a positive and dramatic role in increased opportunities through identification of educational talent. It is argued that tests, far from denying equality, are necessary conditions for equality and quality. (Author/CM)

American Federation of Teachers research shows that teachers are critical of many aspects of testing, but would prefer to see tests improved rather than eliminated. They are interested in tests as a part of instructional programs and recognize that testing information is only one of many criteria used in evaluation. (Author/CM)

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.…

Many teachers are hesitant to use test results because they do not believe they have sufficient training in measurement. Inappropriate test use is a threat, but teachers like tests if the tests are compatible with classroom instruction and results are not used to the exclusion of other types of information. (Author/CM)

Testing provides a major tool to assure the quality of education and access based on merit. In selection processes, the opposite of meritocracy is not equality but favoritism. Without adequate testing, society will have weaker assurance of an individual's performance capacity and productive contribution. (Author/CM)

In the absence of tests, society would be faced with restricted and subjective bases for evaluating students and educational programs. Among the benefits lost would be diagnosis of learning needs, sorting of individuals by skills, feedback to students to cope with school stresses, and transmitting of intellectual values. (Author/CM)