As more colleges move to "test optional" admissions policies, the debate over the utility and interpretation of standardized-test scores continues. In this article, the author interviews Daniel Koretz, a professor of education at Harvard University and author of "Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us". Koretz…

A pamphlet on how to make use of the results of the Illinois Statewide High School Testing Program in an individual school is presented. The 1973-74 testing program includes tests of academic aptitude, reading comprehension and knowledge, communication skills, and mathematical skills. The program reports contain the raw scores of the students in…

This book takes readers through the often confusing landscape of standardized testing and explains what tests are and what they are not. The book discusses how to interpret test scores, different types of standardized tests, and specific standardized tests. This revised edition also contains discussions of the Third International Mathematics and…

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)…

Some uses of achievement tests to provide information for school administrators are described. Three systematic programs are described briefly: (1) a computer-based approach to management and planning designed to answer what is to be learned, how is it to be learned, and has it been learned; (2) a problem solving design for accountability that…

This paper addresses itself to the history and use of standardized aptitude and achievement tests for practical judgements about schools in New Jersey. In the author's opinion, school-wide aptitude testing is not a particularly useful practice when other types of information, particularly grades, achievement tests, and teacher's comments, are…

The Alaska Statewide Assessment Test is administered to fourth and eighth graders every two years in reading and mathematics. Assessment Report 7 describes how the assessment process works, analyzing results, test content, results for 1983, and statewide average scores. A question-answer format is used to discuss the following: (1) Was students'…

General testing guidelines for experienced and new testing personnel, teachers, and school administrators are presented. The Testing Code of Ethics is intended to enhance the awareness of school personnel regarding proper testing procedures and to emphasize the unrelenting attention necessary to provide accurate test data for decision making.…

This paper focuses on three topics. The first introduces the original Anchor Test Study conducted and reported by Educational Testing Service (ETS) from 1971 to 1974. This study, involving the testing of more than 300,000 children, produced raw score equivalency tables for eight commonly used reading tests and new individual and school-mean norms…

The Alaska Statewide Assessment Test (ASAT) in reading and math is administered to fourth and eighth graders every two years. This document contains three separate assessment reports generally titled "An Update on the Alaska Statewide Testing Program." Assessment Report 8, "The Interpretive Panels Look at Results," lists…

An apparent discrepancy between building level scores in basic skills produced by Pennsylvania's state assessment program (EQA) and building summary scores, generally a grade equivalent, provided by commercial standardized achievement tests is investigated. The impetus for the study came from occasional reports by school administrators that their…

Results of a 1987 report indicating that elementary students of all states were above the national average are assessed. Issues addressed include teaching for standardized tests, the effect of teaching on national norms, and alternatives available to protect the integrity of instruction and the validity of normed test scores. (TJH)

The purposes for which test data should be used were described as: test should provide a learning experience for the child taking the test, the teacher giving the test, and the parents of the child. It should also provide information useful to school administrators, school boards, and state and national educational agencies. The state-mandated…

The topic of high-stakes testing (HST) is important because HST has direct and indirect effects on career-technical education (CTE) programs and timely because HST increasingly enters public discussion and has produced a large body of research and practice that generalizes to CTE. A review of HST has identified two persisting dilemmas: policy and…

Both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced interpretations of student, school, district, and state testing data can be improved by customizing the traditional norm-referenced test. Improvements that can be made include: (1) increasing the relevance of the test to the curriculum and (2) having greater confidence in the national comparative…