The PISA project has steadily increased its influence on the educational discourse and educational policies in the now 70 participating countries. The educational debate has become global, and the race to improve PISA-rankings has become high priority in many countries. For governments the PISA-test is a high-stake test. Governments are blamed for…

The development, maintenance, and integration of multicultural competence into all aspects of psychologists' work is critical to ethical practice in an increasingly diverse society. Measurement of multicultural competency is critical to investigating the development of multicultural competence and the effectiveness of multicultural competency…

This paper proposes using nontest indicators, along with academic tests, to assess school effects on youth development. Relationships between indicators and tests are explored and examples presented of nontest indicators of intellectual development, career development, and health and personal safety. Data sources for indicators are…

The Assessment of Preterm Infants' Behavior (APIB) is a newborn neurobehavioral assessment appropriate for preterm, at risk, and full-term newborns, from birth to 1 month after expected due date. The APIB is based in ethological--evolutionary thought and focuses on the assessment of mutually interacting behavioral subsystems in simultaneous…

Three basic areas of definition, measurement, and research, voiced as concerns by members of the National Council of Measurement in Education (NCME) to its Task Force on Measurement Problems in Competency-Based Programs, are used as an organizer for a sponsored symposia and the papers in this monograph. The problem of the definition of competency…

Recent literature emphasizing the relationship of content knowledge to teaching performance has provided an inducement for some evaluators to use formal tests to assess teachers' understanding of subject matter. This study, conducted at a laboratory school connected with the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), examines the relationship…

This paper reviews problems associated with accountability and suggests principles for statewide accountability systems. It describes a course of action which would increase central controls of the state on public education, while leaving discretion to teachers, schools, and local initiative. (LMO)