Examines factors contributing to increasing acceptance of and dependence on state and local educational testing. Factors examined include the accountability movement, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, National Assessment of Educational Progress, growth in statewide and local assessment, and minimum competency testing. (SM)

Presents nine articles dealing with aspects of testing and the role of the school counselor. Topics include interpreting test scores, testing problems and solutions, developing tests to predict dropping out, sex bias in vocational testing, detecting bias in standardized tests, assessments of reentry adults, and interest tests for adults. (JAC)

This memorandum discusses a number of recommendations proposed for changes in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). The Higher Level Assessment Study Group discussed ways to further MEAP testing goals: expand testing into additional subject areas, for every pupil, on a cyclical basis; set higher standards encouraging student…

Examines changing population demographics in the United States, including shifting student demographic projections, and discusses student-testing issues resulting from these changes. The article reviews the historical context of testing ethnic students, testing special-education students, regulatory issues surrounding the testing of ethnic pupils,…

Formerly titled "Empowering Gifted Minds: Educational Advocacy That Works", the author believes this book is the definitive manual on gifted advocacy for gifted students. The author tells parents and teachers how to document a child's abilities to provide reasonable educational options year by year. This book provides imperative information on…

This paper focuses on ways in which one state policy for improving education--standard-setting through testing mechanisms--affects the classroom teacher-learner relationship. That uniform policy-making is problematic is clear from observations of 43 Mid-Atlantic school district teachers. Responding to three types of standards, 45 percent found…

In March of 1984, a total of 55,771 New Mexico public school students in grades 3, 5, and 8 were tested with the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) as required by the statewide standardized testing program. This document reports scores as national percentile ranks, and indicates the position of New Mexico students compared to a national…

Summarizes results from a larger report identifying both school and individual variables related to the test score decline of the 1970s. Public awareness of the relationship between changes in student and school variables and score decline will help prevent another national educational deficit of this type. (LHW)

Reviews selected research, widely-used commercial tests, and recent literature on critical thinking. States that evaluation of critical thinking processes should encompass more than simple tests. Concludes with six guidelines for evaluating critical thinking. (JDH)

Reports the efforts of the California Assessment Program (CAP) to interject critical thinking items into its new statewide social studies tests. Provides definitions of the critical thinking skills tested by the 8th grade social studies CAP test, and lists 100 critical thinking skills vocabulary words. (JDH)

Reports the development and standardization of the teacher version of the Child Behavior Profile. Analyses showed significant differences on the scales between nonreferred boys and boys referred by teachers due to emotional or behavioral problems, supporting the discriminant validity of the teacher profile. (LLL)

Considers the need for and status of assessment literacy for teachers. The article examines whether teachers need to assess, whether there are preservice assessment courses, what assessment courses should teach, what topics are covered in other courses, what is happening with assessment in the schools, and what is needed. (SM)

Because assessment reflects course pedagogy, aims, objectives but also broader institutional and cultural expectations, traditional examination still has a role in the new media of asynchronous, distance learning. This paper recounts experiences of incorporating such examination within an Internet-delivered, GIScience programme, outlining some…

A national study of assessment in American undergraduate education by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching concludes that the current debate over assessment does not adequately consider educational goals and reflects divisiveness within and between faculties. (MSE)

This article highlights some of the defining characteristics of distance education courses and their impact on traditional assessment practices for instructors and students, including those with learning disabilities. Factors that instructors need to consider for dealing with test accommodations for students with learning disabilities are…