This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. The Florida assessment policies and guidelines presented herein are appropriate for state and federal reporting. Therefore, guidance and procedures regarding the selection and use of appropriate student…

Written language is a complex set of skills that facilitate communication and that are developed in a predictable sequence. It is therefore possible to analyze current skills, identify deficits, plan interventions, and determine the effectiveness of the intervention. To effectively accomplish these tasks, educators need to choose appropriate…

While formal, standardized assessment instruments provide valuable and necessary information about students' various abilities and skills, the use of informal and qualitative assessment approaches has the benefit of leading directly to instruction based squarely on an individual student's needs, strengths, and existing skills. This article…

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

Examines some prominent features of currently available mathematics tests to see how well they serve their claimed ends, and describes tests that are validated against tasks that incorporate the mathematical skills children are interested in and capable of doing. (Author/IRT)

Community Involvement for Responsible Citizenship (CIRC) is a five-year Elementary Secondary Education Act Title IV-C project administered by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Seven school districts formed a community citizenship committee to define citizenship and delineate expectations of citizens living in those communities. To identify…

Provides a cursory comparison of four popular social studies achievement tests, discusses the relationship between the subject matter and the test, and provides examples of new methods of testing that give the teacher and the class tools for summarizing and interpreting what they are learning as they work together. (Author/IRT)

The purpose for which a test is needed is the most important criterion for deciding which type of student assessment tool should be used. Standardized tests were developed as sorting instruments based upon certain views of knowledge and learning. Educators, according to their own values, must either bring standardized tests more into line with…

This handbook is designed to serve as a resource for Alaskan district-level administrators in charge of planning, implementing and monitoring districtwide student assessment programs. The information is divided into 10 chapters, including: (1) aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction; (2) planning an assessment program; (3)…

Discussions at the National Consortium on Testing conference are summarized. Updates on recent and upcoming events are given by Jeff Schiller (National Institute of Education), Doug Whitney (American Council on Education), John Maxwell (National Council of Teachers of English), Dorianne Almann (National Science Teachers Association), Eric Gardner…

Criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests are compared, and norm-referenced tests are found to have inadequacies as a basis for evaluation or instructional improvement. Disadvantages of norm-referenced tests, which measure a student's performance relative to the performance of other students, are: (1) mismatches between local curriculum and…

A survey was conducted of achievement testing practices in the intermediate and senior divisions of French-language Ontario schools. Grades 7-8 and grades 9-10 were discussed separately. Department heads, administrators, and board of education members were interviewed concerning the availability and curricular validity of the French-language…

To permit local districts to exercise their option to use standardized tests for state-mandated evaluations, a test rating form was developed. A key concern was the percentage of state approved reading and mathematics skills measured by a test, rather than the test's value for other uses. Other content concerns were readability and cultural and…

A survey was conducted among Ontario, Canada teachers, administrators, and parents regarding the following aspects of French-language achievement testing: which standardized and criterion-referenced tests were used; who developed the tests; how test results were used; how school boards communicated test results to parents; what trends existed in…

The test reviews in this guide are intended to be used by school personnel charged with locating and administering appropriate assessment instruments to limited-English-speaking elementary school children. Assessment instruments are reviewed for native speakers of Chinese, French, Italian, Navajo, Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog. Each instrument…