This article considers the politics of adoption of a testing regime in South Africa. While the broad features of this regime are similar to those in developed countries, there are features specific to the South African context. These emerge from a combination of external and internal pressures. External pressures derive from international testing…

One of the more noteworthy developments in university-based teacher education today is the proliferation of preservice teacher assessment, and in particular, teacher performance assessment (TPA). Indeed, more than 160 teacher education programs in more than 25 states recently adopted the edTPA, a Stanford University developed teacher performance…

The first day of hearings features the testimony of Admiral H. M. Rickover and Dr. Mary Berry, Assistant Secretary for Education, on the quality of education and what can be done about it. Subsequent testimony centers on the testing of students. Those offering statements are William W. Turnball, president of Educational Testing Service; Dr. Roy H.…

Data were collected from a number of sources evaluating the performance of elementary and secondary school students in New York State. Comparison of New York students against the other 49 states, and of various regions within New York state, led to the following conclusions. New York state produced a larger number of high-scoring students on…

Testing has almost completely lost its identity as a device to increase access to college for the underprivileged. Testing today is seen as a device to deny access. Intelligence is randomly distributed among the rich and the poor, and testing helps remove privilege as a guarantee of success and advancement. (MLW)

The increased use of test scores as a measure of school quality is discussed. Legitimate and illegitimate practices of test preparation are considered. Some commercial test preparation programs are reviewed, with some conclusions about their effectiveness and desirability. (SLD)

Since 1969 when it was mandated by Congress, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about the performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students in many subject areas, but most frequently in reading. Designed to reflect current developments in reading theory and research, this booklet describes the objectives…

The thesis of this paper is that achievement tests have changed their primary function from serving as indicators of educational accomplishments to becoming instruments of educational policy, and have thus come to be regarded as effective means of altering educational achievement and productivity. This assertion is explored by using examples of…

This paper reports on regression based methods for identifying exemplary schools. A distinction is made between schools which are maintaining an exceptional level of achievement and those which are improving their achievement in an extraordinary way. More schools were found which consistently exceeded expectations and fewer schools were found…

Based on telephone interviews with educational officials from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, an overview of the use and impact of standardized tests in the United States during the 1986-87 school year was developed. In addition to interviewing officials from all state departments of education, officials from 56 sample school districts…

The desire for a national picture of educational quality remains a continuing but unresolved goal. A question has been raised among high level policymakers regarding the feasibility of using existing data collected by the states to construct education indicators for state-by-state comparisons of student performance at the national level. A…

Although it is true that today's education needs improvement, schools today are not all bad. The opinions of the following five experts, whose views are worth hearing are introduced: (1) Thomas Hopkins; (2) Ralph Tyler; (3) E. F. Lindquist; (4) Walter Cook; and (5) Harold Benjamin. (SLD)

This document is a compendium of reports prepared for presentation to each of North Carolina's 134 local school systems by the State Board of Education. Each report summarizes student performance in the system for 1989-90 in table and graph form and permits a comparison with student performance in preceding years. These reports satisfy a state…

Extracts from the papers and position statements presented at the National Conference on Achievement Testing and Basic Skills are provided in an attempt to capture both the diversity and the consensus among the participants. Six sessions are summarized: (1) achievement tests and basic skills: the issues and the setting--by Harold Howe II; (2)…

In September 1984, the Chinese government asked the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank to assist the officials of the Chinese Ministry of Education in thinking through some policy options for examinations and standardized testing. This document summarizes the descriptions of testing programs and advice provided to these Chinese…