Buros' "Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY)" has provided professional reviews of commercially published psychological and educational tests for over 80 years. It serves as a kind of conscience for the testing industry. For a random sample of 50 entries in the "19th MMY" (a total of 100 separate reviews) this study determined…

This article reviews the "Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition" (WIAT-III), a newly updated individual measure of academic achievement for students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (age 4 years, 0 months to 19 years, 11 months). Suitable for use in educational, clinical, and research settings, the stated purposes of the WIAT-III…

Some students study, and some learn, in preparation for exams; to increase their number, author (a high school teacher) presents a restructured exam program." (SP)

Recent emphasis on stricter educational accountability measures has resulted in a profusion of educational and psychological tests available in today's market. This ERIC Digest has been prepared to meet educators' needs to find information about tests quickly and easily. Three resources discussed are the Test Collection database, the Mental…

This paper discusses the quality of tests with respect to their different uses. Standardized tests are defined as standardized procedures for eliciting responses from individuals, and these form the basis for some sort of appraisal. They can include intelligence tests, achievement tests, school readiness tests, and self concept measures. Oscar…

Dr. Charles W. Stansfield is widely recognized as one of the most important figures in contemporary language testing. He is respected and relied upon by leading language professionals in education, government agencies, academia, and the private sector. During his 40 years of working with languages, he has been a secondary school teacher of…

Although agreeing that the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) has an important purpose, the author questions some perceived weaknesses: test validity; medical model measures; sociocultural scales; estimated learning potential (ELP); and the incompleteness of SOMPA manauls for use in evaluating the system. (See also TM 504 174).…

Argues that it's time for the evidence on improved methods of assessing English to be reviewed at national level. (Editor)

Reviews the "Quick-Score Achievement Test" (Q-SAT), an individually administered measure of school achievement for use with students aged 7-18, which has two forms and yields scores for reading, writing, arithmetic, facts, and general achievement. (SKC)

An annotated list of 11 books, guides, and online information retrieval systems that describe available standardized aptitude and achievement tests, test reviews, databases, and other sources of testing information is provided. The list is designed to help in the identification of useful standardized tests. (TJH)

An education reporter who took a leave of absence to observe competency-based education writes about his findings, which include both support and criticism of competency-based programs. (MF)

Declining test scores have been a major cause for concern in the past year. Describes the decline and explores some possible causes. (Editor/RK)

This digest lists guides to non-commercial tests and compilations of such tests to help identify potentially useful non-commercial tests and assessment instruments to measure special characteristics of students. Reliability and validity information is frequently available. The guides reviewed include: (1) "Measures for Psychological…

Over 1,100 published tests including over 5,400 subtests, keyed to educational objectives of secondary education, were evaluated by measurement experts and educators. The tests were evaluated specifically with the concerns of grades nine and ten in mind. Upon a test's or subtest's assignment to one of the educational objectives, it was subjected…

Over 1,100 published tests including over 5,400 subtests, keyed to educational objectives of secondary education, were evaluated by measurement experts and educators. The tests were evaluated specifically with the concerns of grades 11 and 12 in mind. Upon a test's or subtest's assignment to one of the educational objectives, it was subjected to…