Describes the home-grown system of external educational standards and incentives that were created in the early 20th century by college prep schools and the impact this system had on how teachers taught and students learned. Discussions include how standards were used as curricular frameworks and the creation and influence of the College Board…

Differences in attitude toward classroom testing were studied with 219 college faculty members and 108 students. Although both groups acknowledged the importance of tests, more positive attitudes were found for faulty members rather than students, and the greatest discrepancy in attitude scores was for items regarding the fairness of tests. (SLD)

Describes how the North Central Association (NCA) school improvement process helped Auburn Elementary School (Kansas) achieve improved student performance. Asserts that critical elements for a successful school improvement process include: trust, organization, and strong steering committee and peer review chairs. (KP)

The implications for educational and employment testing of recent measurement, social, and policy issues are compared and contrasted. Changes are proposed relative to technical conceptualization of assessment, an increased focus on performance-based evaluation, and expanded expectations and uses of assessment. (SLD)

Discusses the educational philosophies of the two camps of the Progressive Education Movement: the child-centered education camp, exemplified by the work of John Dewey, and mass education camp exemplified by the rising "science" of educational testing (led by Edward L. Thorndike) and the growth and centralized authority of large…

Summarizes research supporting current beliefs in testing, identifies good assessment qualities, and reviews the current knowledge of test design. Standardized tests negatively affect academic program quality. Alternative assessments must be judged by their validity, reliability, consequences, fairness, generalizability, cognitive complexity,…

Considers the need for and status of assessment literacy for teachers. The article examines whether teachers need to assess, whether there are preservice assessment courses, what assessment courses should teach, what topics are covered in other courses, what is happening with assessment in the schools, and what is needed. (SM)

This meta-analysis reviewed 58 effect sizes from 40 reports on the instructional effects of feedback in tests or similar situations. Mediated instructional feedback for retrieval and application of specific knowledge appeared to stimulate correction of erroneous responses when its reception was encouraged. (SLD)

Indicates the responsibilities of teachers in understanding the student learning process and focuses on some tools that identify student learning styles such as quizzes, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and Multiple Intelligences. (YDS)

Provides European evidence supporting the notion that high academic standards and knowledge of the importance of education can help average students excel in school. A typical, average 9th- and 10th-grade test is provided to illustrate what average students can achieve under educational systems designed to elicit the best from all. (GR)

Describes bipartisan efforts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; asserts that enforcing state compliance with requirements of the act is major challenge. (PKP)

Examines international assessments, like the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, and what they can tell about how well Canadian students perform relative to other participating jurisdictions and how well jurisdictions do on different assessments at different points in time. Discusses uses of international comparisons to inform…

Standards-based assessments were prescribed as the cure for the poor accountability of public schools. Billions of dollars have been spent on curricula, tests, and scoring rubrics so that federal and state agencies can rank schools in terms of student achievement. Over the past twenty years, standards-based education has become the defacto, only…

This paper sets out the findings from a large-scale analysis of the Northern Ireland Transfer Procedure Tests, used to select pupils for grammar schools. As it was not possible to get completed test scripts from government agencies, over 3000 practice scripts were completed in simulated conditions and were analysed to establish whether the tests…

The impact of competition on academic outcomes is likely to depend on whether parents are informed about schools' effectiveness or valued added (which may or may not be correlated with absolute measures of their quality), and on whether this information influences their school choices, thereby affecting schools' market outcomes. To explore these…