During the COVID-19 lockdown, schools are closed, exams have been cancelled, and teaching and learning are taking an unprecedented form. In this process, two realities are brought to light. On the one hand, the pandemic highlights the widening gaps in society and the part that the educational system plays in privileging students from advantageous…

The authors of the book argue that a fundamentally complex problem--how to assess the knowledge of a child--cannot be reduced to a simple test score. "Beyond Testing" describes seven forms of assessment that are more effective than standardized test results: (1) student self-assessments, (2) direct teacher observations of students and…

The OECD and its U.S. administrator, McGraw-Hill Education CTB, have recently concluded the first cycle of the OECD-Test for Schools in the U.S. This test is being marketed to local schools and is designed to compare 15-year-olds from individual participating schools against peers nationally and internationally using the OECD's PISA test as its…

In the present offering we challenge the presumption that the educational testing of students provides objective information about such students. This presumption largely rests on an empiricist account of science. In light of mounting criticism, however, empiricist foundationalism has given way to a social epistemology. From this standpoint,…

In the attempt to identify or prevent unfair tests, both quantitative analyses and logical evaluation are often used. For the most part, fairness evaluation is a pragmatic attempt at determining whether procedural or substantive due process has been accorded to either a group of test takers or an individual. In both the individual and comparative…

This article, which draws heavily on the Sutherland Inquiry report into the delivery of National Curriculum testing in 2008, outlines important aspects of the failure that year to report test-scores on time, considers the extent to which ministers might have been held more accountable and reviews the state of the long struggle to replace the…

Describes and evaluates a "controlled assessment procedure" as a holistic approach to avoiding problems of administering and evaluating traditional exams. Key characteristics include: the question is known well in advance and is broad and open-ended, students are encouraged to respond in any self-selected written format, and the rationale and…

Unstated reasons for the trend toward alternative assessment include mismatch between teachers' student-centered orientation and depersonalization of traditional testing; teachers' desire to exercise professional judgment; and the feeling that traditional tests are redundant and do not reflect the entirety of classroom learning. (SK)

Authentic assessment reflects the subject's content and process and the conditions for achievement, emphasizing whether students' progress is reasonable for their age and experience. Alternative assessments are having an effect on special education intervention, formative and summative evaluation, screening, referral, classification, and…

Evaluates a set of videotaped explanation- and procedure-based assessment activities that challenge high school students to apply scientific concepts to solving problems. Students frequently relied on description when asked for explanation and used revision to confirm their original prediction. The solution may be to relate instruction to context…

Describes the complex and sometimes conflicting components involved in reading assessment issues and proposes a solution that involves linkages among assessment audiences and approaches. Concludes with remarks about how school districts might pull together all the pieces and solve the assessment puzzle for themselves. (PRA)

For all its attractiveness, alternative assessment is fraught with complications and difficulties, as Rhode Island's experience shows. Although alternative assessment can be systematic, there are no ways to rate large numbers of performance-based tasks, portfolios, interviews, exhibits, or essays. Some standardization is necessary, and assessment…

Testing is a technology, a socially mediated, value-laden endeavor. Technologies embody trade-offs between what is desired and real-world constraints of cost, time, thought, and energy. Although alternative assessments offer exciting prospects for middle schools, these new forms must not be misused or naively accepted as defensible, consummate…

To assess the written and verbal communication skills of the approximately 100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students attending the College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a real challenge. The only way for most of these students to satisfy the College of Business' general writing competency requirement was to take the…

From primary grades, students are exposed to both standardized and classroom tests. While teacher-made classroom tests may contain multiple choice, constructed response, or essay items, standardized tests, on the other hand, primarily rely on the multiple-choice format. Standardized tests are easy and inexpensive to administer and score, amenable…