States are increasingly interested in including measures of student achievement growth, or "value- added," in evaluating teachers. Annual state assessments, however, which are the typical measure of student growth, usually cover only reading and math teachers and only in grades 4-8. These state assessments thus cannot …

States and school districts are exploring alternatives to state tests for measuring teachers' contributions to student learning. One approach applies statistical value-added methods to alternative student assessments such as commercially available tests and end-of course tests. The evidence suggests that these methods can reliably distinguish…

This article reviews the "Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition" (WIAT-III), a newly updated individual measure of academic achievement for students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (age 4 years, 0 months to 19 years, 11 months). Suitable for use in educational, clinical, and research settings, the stated purposes of the WIAT-III…

The use of standardized tests for outcome assessment has grown dramatically in recent years. Two driving factors have been the No Child Left Behind legislation, and the increase in outcome assessment measures by accrediting agencies such as AACSB, the international accrediting body for business schools. Despite the growth in usage, little effort…

Recounts the negative experiences two cities had with districtwide testing programs. (IRT)

The recommended procedure for achievement test selection is presented. Following a review of some fundamental definitions of statistical properties of achievement tests (validity, reliability, and norms), major considerations to be applied in selecting achievement tests are discussed. These considerations are: (1) the characteristics of the school…

Reviews the "Quick-Score Achievement Test" (Q-SAT), an individually administered measure of school achievement for use with students aged 7-18, which has two forms and yields scores for reading, writing, arithmetic, facts, and general achievement. (SKC)

This article presents views of proponents and opponents to standardized tests, isolates the major weakness of testing--questionable validity--and offers several recommendations for the betterment of test development and use. Some major misuses of tests include the following: (a) tests are at times administered with no clear purpose; (b) test…

Describes the development of a standardized achievement test for high school horticulture students and analyzes resulting data from 37 high schools. Although the sample may not have been truly random, the test is felt to be sufficiently reliable and valid for use as a research and evaluation tool. (MF)

The basic rationale for using objective tests is that they are relevant and reliable measures of the most important kind of learning that schools and colleges seek to foster. Measurement of student achievement in learning is necessary, if educational excellence is to be achieved. (Author/SJL)

Examines confusions that result from the use of the words "standardization,""reliability,""objectivity," and "validity" in connection with testing. (IRT)

The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) yields raw scores, standard scores, and percentile scores for reading skill, spelling skill, and arithmetic computational skill, and is applicable for determining student competence in these areas for pre-kindergarten through college level. Because national norms on the 1965 revised WRAT are not, however,…

Arguments are set forth to encourage continued use of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as supplementary information rather than as an exclusive criterion for selecting graduate candidates in English. The author predicts that the GRE will be increasingly used and will increasingly come to define and control undergraduate and graduate…

Test evaluation summaries completed by the Center for the Study of Evaluation in 1970 and 1976 were used to determine changes in test quantity and quality among elementary-level standardized instruments. In the earlier studies, the instruments were rated in four general areas: measurement validity, examinee appropriateness, administrative…

The first edition of this book was written to give information about testing to people whose work gave them access to test results, but whose training included little or nothing about the use and interpretation of tests. Later editions have been intended for a broader audience as the need for understanding what test scores really mean has…