Early presidents of the American Educational Research Association were leaders in the testing movement. Their intentions were to improve education by means of testing, which included both IQ and achievement tests. Early measurement experts acknowledged in scholarly articles that IQ tests could not measure inherited ability of groups with vastly…

James A. Hazlett, NAEP Administrative Director, discusses the National Assessment program as an accountability tool. The strengths and weaknesses of the program as an evaluative method in the cognitive areas are discussed at length. (MPJ) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Program Description (Historical Background).

Two political socialization issues were explored for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old youth. The first issue was the extent to which there is a general orientation among American youth toward tolerance. The second issue was the relationship of tolerance among youth to political knowledge and orientation to political participation. A major objective of the…

The conference theme was "The Promise and Perils of Educational Information Systems," defined as collections of test data on knowledges, skills, interests, and attitudes maintained for the purpose of educational decision making. Topics covered were: "Longer Education: Thinner, Broader, or Higher" (Fritz Machlup); "Testing:…