This report reviews the major international and regional large-scale educational assessments, including international surveys, school-based surveys and household-based surveys. The report compares and contrasts the cognitive and contextual data collection instruments and implementation methods used by the different assessments in order to identify…

The utilization of the third grade achievement data reported by the California Assessment Program (CAP) to schools was studied. All elementary school principals in California were surveyed in 1979 regarding the uses they made of the report. Over 70 percent used their score reports to compare results across years looking for trends. Other common…

The ultimate test for success of a statewide assessment program is the extent to which the assessment data and information are used by the intended assessment audiences. The major premise adopted in this paper is that involvement of parents, teachers, and school administrators in the assessment process is the key to acceptance and subsequent use…

The Maryland State Department of Education issued a request for proposals to develop a score reporting system for the Maryland Functional Testing Program. RMC Research Corporation conducted a literature review of extant literature and developed a national survey of non-norm-referenced test score reporting practices. This comprehensive analysis of…

The British Columbia Learning Assessment Program is a province-wide program designed to aid in decision-making processes about curriculum revisions; preservice teacher education and in-service programs; resource allocations; and future research needs; and to inform various publics of educational attainment. The article provides an overview of the…

Superintendents from 155 school districts in Pennsylvania were surveyed regarding their participation in Pennsylvania's 1976 Educational Quality Assessment (EQA). Ten state goals for quality public school education were assessed in grades 5, 8, and 11, as part of the EQA. Questionnaire responses were returned by superintendents from 128 school…

A proposal is described to provide objective test results from the yearly School Certificate/GCE Examinations in Nigeria as computer-generated feedback information to individual schools and the Ministries of Education. Absolute, ipsative, and normative analyses would be presented for syllabus topics within each subject matter, and for each subject…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has the potential to become a national data system and to meet the rapidly expanding needs for educational information. Historically, NAEP has had the objectives of providing relevant information for federal, state, and local policymakers; establishing a research database; and monitoring…

This survey investigated: (1) the extent that psychometric criteria are used in test selection; (2) the weight given to different types of psychometric information relative to other qualities of the test; and (3) possible reasons for differences among districts. Directors of testing offices, including members of the National Association of Test…

This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

The achievement of more adequate vocational guidance services in the nation's schools through the improvement of state supervisory service, was the major objective of the seminar. In additon to 72 state guidance supervisory staff members from 47 states, seminar participants and leadership personnel included 14 counselor educators, 12 state-level…

The Florida Statewide Assessment Program annually tests students on their achievement of statewide objectives in the basic skills areas of mathematics, reading, and writing. The objective-referenced tests, which measure entry-level skills, are administered in the fall of each year. Results are provided for each student, school, district, and the…

Findings are presented of an empirical study involving public, private, and parochial school systems' use of standardized test information by central office administrators. Examples of actual use are given, and descriptions of central office perspectives on standardized testing are detailed. Three categories were found to account for most of the…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) staff developed strategies to train teachers and principals to use state assessment results for improving academic achievement in their schools. Two local uses of the state assessment results are (1) using the results of grades 4, 7, and 10 with the students tested, and (2) using the results to…

Characteristics of the Minnesota Statewide Educational Assessment Program, initiated by the state department of education, are: stratified student samples based on five sizes and types of school districts; assessment of academic subject areas in periodic cycles; subject area objectives cooperatively planned with the curriculum unit in the…