Why has large-scale standardised testing attracted such a bad press? Why has pedagogic benefit to be derived from test results been downplayed? The paper investigates this question by first surveying the pros and cons of testing in the literature, and goes on to examine educators' responses to standardised, large-scale tests in a sample of low…

How two students with the same number-correct score, calculated by dramatically different patterns of responses, can achieve the same ability estimate is demonstrated. The present study investigated the incidence of person misfit to the model in a nationally standardized test of achievement devised using the Rasch item response theory model. It…

Arkansas law requires that each student aged 7 through 16 years in a home school program be tested annually using a nationally recognized standardized test chosen by the students' parents from a list of tests approved by the state. Achievement for home schooled and public schooled students in Arkansas was compared for grades 4, 7, and 10 using 6…