COVID-19 is disrupting assessment practices and accelerating changes. With special focus on K-12 and credentialing exams, this article describes the series of changes observed during the pandemic, the solutions assessment providers have implemented, and the long-term impact on future practices. Additionally, this article highlights the importance…

International large-scale student assessments (ILSAs) in education represent a valuable source of information for policy-makers, not only on student achievements, but also on their relationship with different contextual factors. The results are partly described in the official studies' reports; more can be derived from the publicly released data…

A growing body of research showing that grade retention serves as an educationally low-quality placement has raised increasing concerns about whether the use of standardized tests in making decisions concerning grade retention conforms to current standards for appropriate and nondiscriminatory test use. This article examines the extent to which…

In this article we provide a critique of the interpretation and utilization of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results by the National Education Authorities in Turkey. First, we define and explain what OECD's PISA is. Second, we make an overview of the media coverage in Turkey of the PISA 2003 and 2006 results. Third, we…

The intervention validity of cognitive assessment batteries is considered within an historical context to identify what the evidence supports (knowns), what cannot be known (unknowables), and what is not yet known (unknowns). Two ways cognitive batteries could inform intervention are identified: a disordinal (i.e., aptitude-treatment interaction)…

Local assessment systems are being marketed as formative, benchmark, predictive, and a host of other terms. Many so-called formative assessments are not at all similar to the types of assessments and strategies studied by Black and Wiliam (1998) but instead are interim assessments. In this article, we clarify the definition and uses of interim…

This manuscript describes the development and testing of an Internet-based cost survey that was designed by the authors for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) to capture the costs of school-based health programs. The intent of the survey was twofold. First, the survey was designed to collect comprehensive data on costs in a…

Based on the results of a generalizability study of measures of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics developed at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles, this article provides evidence that teachers are better at drawing reasonable inferences about student…

Assessments labeled as formative have been offered as a means to improve student achievement. But labels can be a powerful way to miscommunicate. For an assessment use to be appropriately labeled "formative," both empirical evidence and reasoned arguments must be offered to support the claim that improvements in student achievement can be linked…

This report describes the purposes of benchmark assessments and provides recommendations for selecting and using benchmark assessments--addressing validity, alignment, reliability, fairness and bias and accessibility, instructional sensitivity, utility, and reporting issues. We also present recommendations on building capacity to support schools'…

In many school districts, the pressure to raise test scores has created overnight celebrity status for formative assessment. Its powers to raise student achievement have been touted, however, without attending to the research on which these claims were based. Sociocultural learning theory provides theoretical grounding for understanding how…

Provides an argument for incorporating consideration of consequences into validity theory that is grounded in the reflexive nature of social knowledge. It also calls for the consideration of evidence of validity based on the actual discourse surrounding the practices and products of testing. (SLD)

The Joint Committee on Testing Practices has completed the "Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education," which is meant for the public and focuses on the proper use of tests in education--admissions, educational assessment and diagnosis, and student placement. The Code separately addresses test developers' and users' roles. (SLD)

This survey examined the test use practices of counselors who belong to either or both of two divisions of the American Association for Counseling and Development: the American School Counselors Association, and the Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. A questionnaire covering test use patterns, test…

A study of school district uses of evaluation and test data is used to illustrate the variety of ambiguities that can appear in qualitative data. Rules of evidence to distinguish valid and potentially nonvalid testimony are proposed. Uses of testimony in evaluation are discussed. (BS)