This paper addresses itself to the history and use of standardized aptitude and achievement tests for practical judgements about schools in New Jersey. In the author's opinion, school-wide aptitude testing is not a particularly useful practice when other types of information, particularly grades, achievement tests, and teacher's comments, are…

The Wisconsin Pupil Assessment Program is a testing service which provides the State of Wisconsin with: (1) a measure of student performance in selected academic areas by developing objective-referenced tests in reading, mathematics, economic understanding, and writing; (2) a comparison of Wisconsin public school students to the rest of the nation…

Results are summarized for a number of tests administered to secondary school students in Idaho. A description of each test and the students tested is provided, as well as the purposes of the test and a brief summary of results. Two tests administered especially in Idaho are included. The Idaho Proficiency Test, a criterion referenced test of…

The effect of a basic competency education program on the achievement of high, average, and low-achieving students was examined for the Alabama Basic Competency Education program (BCE). California Achievement Tests scores in reading, mathematics, and language were examined for 3 years prior to initiation of the BCE program and for 3 years…

Approximately 60,000 Delaware public school students in grades 1 through 8 and in grade 11 were administered a battery of achievement tests as part of the state-funded Delaware Educational Assessment Program (DEAP) in 1986. This was the second administration of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), in reading, language arts, and…

Norm-referenced tests (NRT) help compare the performance of one student with the performances of a large group of students, while criterion-referenced tests (CRT) focus on "what test takers can do and what they know, not how they compare to others" (Anastasi, 1988). Both types of test can be standardized so that scores can be interpreted the same…

This paper contends that, apparently, the patterns of above-norm performance that J. Cannell (1987) reported exist, although the extremity of his "Lake Wobegon" effect is perhaps overstated. The use of outdated test norms and other practices has been identified as a partial explanation for the reporting of "above-average"…

To compile information on state and school district standardized testing programs, a survey instrument was designed and sent to 135 members of the National Association of Test Directors (NATD). Seventy responses (52%) were received in time to be included in the compilation. Most participating school districts (n=61, 87%) had a program mandated by…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U, measuring achievement in reading, spelling, language, mathematics, reference skills, science, and social studies, were administered to fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, ninth-, and eleventh-graders from all 92 South Carolina school districts, in Spring, 1986. Results were compared to national norms and to…

Increasing numbers of state-mandated testing programs have resulted in the selection of norm-referenced tests (NRTs) for statewide assessment. Adaptation or customization of existing tests has become a viable solution for individual programs. Changes in test instruments have arisen from the behaviorist approach and mastery learning, minimum…

The results of standardized norm-referenced achievement tests via the state mandated California Assessment Program (CAP) and the Districtwide Testing Program for the 1979-80 school year are summarized. California Assessment Program tests were administered statewide to all third, sixth and twelfth grade students. The nationally standardized…

This manual is designed to accompany reports prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the 505 school districts in that state, summarizing results of the Educational Quality Assessment. The normative sample is described as being stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administrative procedures are summarized.…

This report describes the results of the October, 1987, state assessment of basic skills of all Washington public school students in grades 4, 8, and 10. More than 152,000 students were tested using the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition. The first section of the report describes the general state level results for the involved grades.…

Hawaii uses the eighth edition of the Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 8) to assess academic performance of the student population in grades 3, 6, 8, and 10. Hawaii was not included in the norming for the Stanford 8, neither for the national nor the Pacific norms. In this study, Hawaii norms were developed based on the Stanford 8 reading and…

This manual is designed to accompany reports prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the 505 school districts in that state, summarizing results of the Educational Quality Assessment. The normative sample is described as being stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administrative procedures are summarized.…