The equating process links scores from different editions of the same test. For testing programs that build nearly parallel forms to the same explicit content and statistical specifications and administer forms under the same conditions, the linkings between the forms are expected to be equatings. Score equity assessment (SEA) provides a useful…

Discusses how, as the College Board prepares to make changes in the SAT, experts debate how fair the new exam will be. (EV)

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U, is scored in two ways: number-correct and pattern. The latter makes use of the information about which particular items are answered correctly, giving more weight to the more discriminating items and making allowances for guessing. Critics have suggested that black students are penalized by pattern…

Seven schools that have re-evaluated their needs for standardized college admissions examinations were studied to explore their admissions and innovative testing policies. The schools include: (1) Bates College in Lewiston, Maine; (2) Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine; (3) Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Cambridge,…

Differential functioning of males and females on achievement test items was studied in a sample of 110,000 students in kindergarten through grade 12. First, item parameters and ability estimates for these parameters were obtained from LOGIST computer program runs for the entire group. Predicted performance for each item for each group was…

After decades of criticism that standardized testing is culturally biased, the Educational Testing Service claims great strides in eliminating test bias in the Scholastic Assessment Tests and related tests and reports initiatives in cooperation with educators leading to better academic preparation for students of color. Critics still ask for…

The objections of testing experts to standardized testing are evaluated. The report begins with a foreword by Chester E. Finn, Jr., followed by an executive summary and an introduction. Four case studies include: (1) experts' opposition to high-stakes testing in Texas; (2) in North Carolina; (3) concerns raised in connection with the National…

The SAT Program undertook two studies aimed at evaluating the impact of allowing students to indicate more than one ethnic/racial category. Results of this study indicated that there is little impact on DIF [differential item functioning] analyses when different definitions of ethnic/racial classifications are used compared to traditionally…

Starting in the late 1980s, two teams of researchers, well known for their criticism of standardized tests on equity and validity grounds, began attacking standardized testing on efficiency grounds as well, using cost-benefit analysis to do it. Their analyses are reviewed, and their conclusions discussed. The first team, Lorrie A. Shepard, Amelia…

The necessity of controlling the order in which trained essay raters for a statewide writing assessment program receive student essays was studied. The underlying theoretical question concerns possible rater bias caused by raters reading long strings of essays of homogeneous quality; this problem is usually referred to as context effect or…

In this article, the author tells the story of one school and how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has been affecting its teachers and the educational opportunities and outcomes of its students. Roosevelt High School, located in North Portland, Oregon, has the most ethnically diverse student population in what is the largest school district in…

This study compared the different modes of evaluation at work in Greece's secondary school graduation and university admission process. The goals of the study were (1) to provide background information regarding the contribution of in-school assessment scores and external examination scores to higher education admissions decisions, and (2) to…

This collection of articles is designed to enhance leadership for the promotion of effective evaluation and learning. The articles include an Introduction, by Fred Snyder; Exerting Leadership Toward Effective Evaluation of Pupil Performance, by T. L. Drake; The Elementary Principal as an Instructional Leader, by John Ourth; The Secondary Principal…

In this study, FairTest evaluated how well state assessment practices live up to the promise of high standards without standardization. The practices of states were measured against standards derived from the "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems," a 1995 publication of education and civil rights groups working…

FairTest evaluated how well state assessment practices live up to the promise of high standards without standardization. The practices of states were measured against standards derived from the "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems," a 1995 publication of education and civil rights groups working through the National…