Background/Context: Issues of policy, practice, and assessment and the relationships between them have been a persistent focus in the practice and research of teacher preparation. However, the field has also long appreciated the tensions that persist between assessment approaches espoused in most teacher education programs and the realities of…

English language learners (ELLs) who are in the process of acquiring English as a second language for academic purposes, are often misidentified as having Language Learning Disabilities (LLDs). Policies regarding the assessment of ELLs have undergone many changes through the years, such as the introduction of a Response to Intervention (RTI)…

Inspired by his ability to teach algebra to low-income and mostly African American and Latino urban students--and have them outscore the state averages for high-income and Caucasian students on standardized tests--Kadhir "Raja" Rajagopal, the 2011 California Teacher of the Year, provides you with a model for teaching that unleashes the…

Discusses the importance of fairness in evaluation studies of second-language programs and the potential for misinterpretation of studies which are not program-fair. Strategies designed to overcome this problem from the perspective of standardized tests include: specific tests for each program, program-specific plus program-neutral measures,…

This critique of standardized tests begins by placing the use of such tests within a social context. It then addresses the matter of standardized testing in theory and practice in relation to teaching. The substance of standardized examinations, their common content, and the things they do not test are also explored. The relationship of good…

The accuracy and fairness of standardized testing is taken very seriously in the education world. These issues are a major focus of both the testing experts who develop standardized tests and the researchers who endeavor to ensure a test's fairness, reliability, validity, and accuracy. But many issues remain both controversial and complex. The…

In this article, the author approaches accountability testing from a more micro level and offers a response to the question, "What can be done to get assessment right at the classroom level?" The author's answer refers back to accountability issues by considering that class of assessments most commonly used for such a purpose, herein referred to…

The National Council for the Social Studies is concerned with how the social studies teaching profession can enhance learning in history and the social sciences and develop the skills necessary for participatory citizenship. The purpose of this position statement is to demonstrate how testing and evaluating social studies students can contribute…

This book contains necessary information to help teachers deal with the assessment concerns of classroom teachers. The major theme is that classroom assessment should help teachers make better educational decisions. Each chapter contains several elements intended to foster mastery of its contents, including a summary of contents, a more succinct…

This conference, whose theme was "The Testing Issue," addressed problems encountered with standardized testing in Alabama's historically black colleges and universities, and predominantly black high schools. It focused on immediate intervention strategies designed to provide access to high school diplomas, college, graduate and professional…

Despite the many limitations of standardized tests, schools use them to determine if children are ready for school, to group students for instruction, to diagnose learning disabilities and other handicaps, and to guide and control the curriculum and teaching methods. No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for important…

Selections include Strevens' discussion of teaching for different circumstances, Morley's discussion of new developments in teaching materials, Swain's overview of research in bilingual education, Shuy's, Oller's, Bernal's, and Rosier's respective discussions of test bias, and Rivers', Hines', Scovel's, and Taylor's explorations of the Silent Way,…