A Friends for Education (FFE) survey revealed that no state is below the norm at the elementary school level on six nationally normed commercially available achievement tests. Tests use a norm group from the past for comparison, but FFE suspects that inaccurate initial norms and teaching the test may cause high scores. (SLD)

Officials of the United States Department of Education conclude that the pervasive "above average" achievement reported by J. J. Cannell (1988) results from a combination of testing practices and procedures among school testing programs. Causative factors of this paradox, dubbed the "Lake Wobegon Phenomenon," are discussed.…

Representatives of the Riverside Publishing Company discuss the "Lake Wobegon Phenomenon," the reported "above average" achievement of most elementary schools nationwide that was discussed by J. J. Cannell (1988) of the Friends for Education. More appropriate use of normative comparisons and more complete reporting of test…

The time-bound nature of test norms is discussed in light of the report of J. J. Cannell (1988) that a large majority of elementary schools report above average achievement on national achievement tests. Generally increasing levels of achievement are deemed to be responsible for this phenomenon. (SLD)

Despite the skepticism of J. J. Cannell (1988) that commercial test scores reveal much about the real achievement level of students, there is ample evidence that at least some of the gains observed on standardized tests are legitimate. Standardized scores should be greeted with healthy skepticism when high, but taken very seriously when low. (SLD)

Means of interpreting norm-referenced tests to lead to more accurate reporting results are discussed, with particular emphasis on state-level and district-level data. Suggestions fall into the categories of documentation, frequency norming, and multiple form use. (TJH)

In response to J. J. Cannell's (1988) discussion of the reported "above average" achievement of the vast majority of public school systems nationwide, the nature of national norms is discussed. The public must be better informed about the interpretation of test results. (SLD)

Cohen and Hyman's response contains several misunderstandings of the original article by Mehrens and Kaminski. One frequently wishes to make inferences to a domain from a test, but teaching a specific performance and testing for that performance does not allow for a domain inference. (SLD)

The author addresses issues raised by Burket (TM 510 174) about the Iowa Test of Basic Skills scaling procedures. Further reasons for his criticism of Thurstone scale scores and item response theory scale scores for elementary school achievement tests are given. (BS)

A norm-referenced achievement test, in combination with supplementary items, can be used to produce norm-referenced data as well as objective-referenced data. The experiences of the Palm Beach County (Florida) school district in developing and using such a test are described. (EGS)

In 1987, a survey report by J. Cannell was published criticizing state reports based on national standardized testing of elementary school students that indicated that all 50 states were above the national average. This phenomenon--known as the "Lake Wobegon Effect"--is analyzed. Technical problems with the study are considered. (TJH)

Results of a 1987 report--indicating that elementary students of all 50 states were above the national average--were assessed via 2 national mail and telephone surveys. Although results of data for 35 states support the general findings of the 1987 report, it appears that more specific results are less sensational. (TJH)