Purpose: Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores the challenges, promises and the "state of the art" with regard to designing standardized achievement tests and educational assessment systems that are instructionally useful. Authors deliberate on the consequences of using inappropriately…

The root of problems in standardized testing is the test makers' goal of lining up children along a single line from highest-scoring to lowest-scoring individual. Standardized tests reflect no sense, no reality, and no logic. (MJB)

This fastback provides information about what tests can and cannot do, how they are constructed, and how they are used and misused. It offers suggestions about how best to interpret test results. The chapters are: (1) "A Test on Testing"; (2) "Basic Considerations"; (3) "Standardized Tests"; (4) "Performance Tests"; (5) "Interpreting Test Scores";…

Intended for parents and teachers of gifted students (preschool through graduate level), the document provides descriptions in "lay language" of tests used as identification and screening measures in gifted and talented programing. Explained in an introductory section are such concepts as IQ, various uses for tests, types of standardized…

This CD ROM is designed for use by teachers singly or in groups. It may also be used by technical assistance providers preparing to work with teachers. The CD ROM provides an interactive tool to help teachers analyze and interpret standardized test data, use data to plan for effective instruction, develop classroom assessments that align with…

"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…

This article argues that the validity of standardized achievement test-score interpretation and use is problematic; consequently, confidence and trust in such test scores may often be unwarranted. The problem is particularly severe in high-stakes situations. This essay provides a context for understanding standardized achievement testing, then…

Three major points covered by this report are (1) What are the demands for reading assessment and how have the demands increased?; (2) How adequately do present standardized reading tests meet these demands?; and (3) What possible approaches exist for developing assessment procedures which meet these demands? An extreme interest in finding out how…

A brief, nontechnical state-of-the-art review of four common instruments and current practices in the field of scholastic aptitude testing is presented. The instruments include: the 1971 Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT), 1973 Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability (H-NTMA), 1979 Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) and the 1970 Short Form Test of…

Reviews the 25-year record of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), highlighting criticisms of test design and validity, sampling techniques, standards, and usefulness of results. Provides the newly organized NAEP with guidelines for selecting input variables and specifies nine variables to be studied. A sidebar describes NAEP's…

Discusses (1) perspectives from which standardized test developers, users, and interpreters must consider test results; (2) test components that affect student test performance; (3) test abuses that contribute to the shortening of tests; and (4) how educators can effect a change in the increased reliance on standardized tests. (HTH)

A "recentering" of Scholastic Assessment Test scores will boost average scores but will not change test item difficulty. The objective is to reduce confusion among students and parents about what is an average score, make math and verbal scores more comparable, and account for a different student population. Bar graphs compare…