In his focus article, Koretz (this issue) argues that accountability has become the primary function of large-scale testing in the United States. He then points out that tests being used for accountability purposes are flawed and that the high-stakes nature of these tests creates a context that encourages score inflation. Koretz is concerned about…

Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and…

An outline of strategies that can be used to diagnose and remediate the test-taking problems of nursing students has been adapted from an "Outline of Test-Wiseness Principles" conceived by J. Millman, C. H. Bishop, and R. Ebel. The outline consists of two parts: elements independent of the test constructor or test purpose, including time-using,…

Reports on a study of 96 undergraduate developmental psychology students and their performance on student-developed "pop quizzes." Students who participated in writing test items had significantly higher scores than students who did not. Calls for more research into the effectiveness of other student-developed evaluation methods. (CFR)

No one can dispute that tests should measure important content, and for many (but not all) purposes, tests should be aligned with curricular goals. Thus in many cases, alignment is clearly better than the alternative, and nothing that follows here argues otherwise. Unfortunately, however, this does not imply that alignment is sufficient protection…

This packet, designed for teachers of Job Corps participants is intended to familiarize them with the contents and presentation methods of the competency program developed to help students prepare for the General Educational Development (GED) (high school equivalency) tests. The first part of the package contains a teacher's guide that presents an…