While I wrote this column, there seemed to be a lull in new software announcements for education and educators. Perhaps it is reflective of the tightening of school budgets or the heavy emphasis on standardized tests and strictly measurable results here in the United States, which has lead to fewer really exciting software announcements lately.…

Explores issues related to testing and certification of social workers and discusses the National Association of Social Workers' experience in the assessment of competence. Explores formulation of definitions, determination of standards, and construction of quality instruments. (JAC)

Focuses on Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS), standardized art therapy evaluation tool that combines art therapy's attention to materials, task, and process with research methodology of social sciences. Describes DDS, its administration, and its usefulness in clinical practice in context of structural approach which can be taught effectively to…

Describes experience of Bates College with optional testing, summarizing results of optional Scholastic Aptitude Tests over five years and presenting snapshot of totally optional testing over one year. Discusses enrollment, predictive, and ethical implications of an optional testing policy. Concludes with some brief speculations on definitions of…

Adaptive behavior scales can be very helpful in the overall assessment of minority children. In some states they are mandatory. Their weaknesses, particularly with the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, are sampling bias and appropriateness in the areas of culture, language, and socioeconomic status. (Author)

Advocating individualized instruction, this article provides a model for conducting research on individual student differences which teachers actually recognize and use to modify their instruction. Provides examples of how teachers accommodate individual differences in middle and junior high school classrooms. (JDH)

Notes enduring hypothesis that knotholes, broken branches, damaged trunks, and leafless trees are indicative of traumatic episodes in individual's life. Reviews selected past research which does not definitely confirm or deny basic hypothesis and reports current study based on tree drawings from Diagnostic Drawing Series Archive. Presents…

Discusses the exact meaning and limitations of commonly used types of standardized test scores: grade equivalent scores; percentile ranks, and standard scores. (SR)

Discusses Russell's (1975) system for administering and scoring the Logical Memory and Visual Reproduction subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale. Certain innovations such as obtaining a delayed recall appear to be useful, but comparisons with other studies indicate difficulty with the impairment ratings that were devised. (JAC)

The concept of overlap between instruction and assessment is defined. The influence of tests on teaching and the teacher as curricular content decision maker is described. A model of how awareness of this overlap can move curriculum practice into alignment with an assessment system is presented. (Author/MT)

Discusses why and how to improve the performance of minority college students on standardized tests. Emphasizes the importance of providing instruction in effective test taking and reinforcing acquired skills on practice tests. (KH)

Discusses the difficulty that black education graduates experience with teacher certification exams. Describes a Southern Regional Education Board project established to train faculty in black colleges to lead faculty and curriculum development in order to improve student performance on standardized tests and to increase the pool of minority…

This paper is an overview of some points made at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April of 1987. Gender effects were computed on 82 nationally standardized tests designed to determine precocity among youth. The effect sizes ranged from a magnitude of 0.50 (favoring females) for spelling in grade 12 on the…

Critics of standardized tests support new legislation to provide breakdowns of test results by sex, race, and ethnic group, confident they will find evidence of bias. (MSE)

Observes the increasing use of class test scores for rating teachers and reviews arguments against this practice. Cites research pointing to a variety of influences on standardized test scores other than teacher performance. Concludes that teacher evaluation must incorporate a variety of measures. (KH)