The testing and measurement movement has certainly become important in United States education. Test scores are looked upon as being quite valuable in ascertaining student achievement, especially in the reading curriculum. Percentiles, standard deviations, stanine scores, and other indicators are given to show objectively how well the reading…

The assessment of student achievement in mathematics is discussed. Different approaches should be used to ascertain student achievement of objectives in the mathematics curriculum. Some methods are subjective, such as rating scales, and these can be very useful. Among more objective approaches is the use of standardized tests. There is a number of…

Different kinds of tests are given to determine student achievement. Standardized achievement tests are often used, but have many limitations. They may be useful in determining the content students should learn and its relevance for future learning and the curriculum. Criterion referenced tests eliminate a major weakness of standardized tests in…

There are many procedures to use in the evaluation of student achievement in reading. Each has its pros and cons. No single approach will be perfect, but with a variety of approaches a teacher may determine how much progress each student has made. Standardized, norm-referenced tests, once so popular, have come into disfavor as reading evaluation…

Teachers and principals need to understand and be able to talk intelligently about statistics. They need to be able to clarify concepts and generalizations used in tests that measure student progress. Among the terms educators need to be able to explain are "mean,""average,""median,""validity,""reliability,""pilot studies," and "item analysis."…

A contemporary mathematics curriculum emphasizes using a variety of evaluation techniques to determine student achievement. Too frequently in the past, standardized norm- referenced tests and their results provided the main information related to student achievement. These tests have not presented objectives for teachers to use in teaching…