Ultimately, measures in research, testing, assessment and evaluation are used, or have implications, for ranking, intervention, feedback, decision-making or policy purposes. Explicit recognition of this fact brings the often-ignored and sometimes maligned concept of consequences to the fore. Given that measures have personal and social…

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…

School librarians and other specialists should take note of the new wave of computer-based assessments required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), testing that is only now beginning to get off the ground. The new testing necessitates that districts possess the right hardware, install the requisite software, and, in some cases, create…

Australian legislation and educational policies may espouse, but not yet fully enact, inclusive assessments for all. In relation to the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), for example, almost 5% of students are either exempt or withdrawn. The achievement levels of these students, many of whom have disabilities, are not…

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…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

Reviews a dozen basic questions about passing scores on state-mandated competency testing programs for students, teachers, administrators, and other education personnel. Condemns the "cardiac" approach (or traditonal 80 percent standard) in favor of procedures that systematically incorporate judgment with a variety of performance data.…

Instruments and methods are considered by many the nuts and bolts of school testing programs, for both individuals and groups. Too often, the individual is lost in the machinery of such a school program, and data collected becomes the end product of appraisal and assessment. Programs of student appraisal procedures should be developed around eight…

Although emphatically not against the concept of educational accountability, the National Education Association (NEA) feels that a redirection is needed in the implementation of such a system. Because of error, especially in testing minority and poor children, accountability programs should never use test results as the major source of data but…

Offers six Arizona teachers' comments on the new Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP). Discusses how the test affects children, whether the testing procedure is easily understood by teachers, how the ASAP differs from a standardized test, how the classroom teaching process has changed as a result of the test, concerns about the test, and…

Offers a preliminary assessment of the new Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP). Uses James Squire's model for analyzing reading and writing processes to analyze how well the tests assess reading processes. Includes some sample ASAP forms. Finds that the problems are minor in terms of evaluating the overall effectiveness of the new…

A survey, designed to take approximately 15 minutes to complete, was administered to 1,656 elementary school teachers in Michigan to obtain information on a variety of topics related to student assessment and mandated state testing. Most of the teachers were employed in small suburban or urban schools, and 88% were employed in the public schools.…

This publication provides guidance for making decisions about the participation in regular assessments of individual students in Alaska with disabilities and with limited English proficiency. It also provides guidance for deciding if a student requires a testing accommodation or an alternate assessment. The regular assessments included…

This research review discusses the use of traditional psychometric devices to predict an individual's academic performance, and to determine his admittance into a particular curriculum, particularly in today's open-door, comprehensive, community-junior college. To begin with, most reported uses of the typical achievement or aptitude test appear to…

Students whose primary language is not English and who are of limited English proficiency are an increasing percentage of North Carolina's school population at all grade levels and in all parts of the state. These guidelines are designed to clarify their participation in the statewide testing program. This program includes the end-of-grade tests…