The reporting of scores on educational tests is at times misunderstood, misinterpreted, and potentially confusing to examinees and other stakeholders who may need to interpret test scores. In reporting test results to examinees, there is a need for clarity in the message communicated. As pressure rises for students to demonstrate performance at a…

The evaluation instruments used in the Tennessee Career Ladder program are described, and their evolution over the first three years of program implementation is traced. The instruments are designed to measure teacher performance and to determine outstanding teachers. They include: the Career Ladder Test of Professional Skills (a multiple-choice…

The results of standardized tests are misused and often do more harm than good, according to William W. Cooley, professor and researcher at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). The results seldom assist anyone in improving instruction. Too many out-of-school variables such as social-economic status influence test scores. Achievement is…

The goal of this study was to understand the role that external testing plays in elementary schools. Focus was on uncovering teachers' beliefs about testing and preparing students to take tests, how these beliefs and values are organized, and what implications they might have on practice. To accomplish this, the day-to-day life in classrooms and…

Two papers are presented as part of the Effects on Testing Project. The first paper, "The Effects of Testing on Teaching and Learning" (Joan Herman, Shari Golan, and Jeanne Dreyfus), describes a study focusing on standardized, norm-referenced tests. A questionnaire was administered to 85 teachers (kindergarten through grade 12 levels)…

An evaluation of a school reform project in one kindergarten through grade 5 school in Atlanta (Georgia) is presented to demonstrate how triangulation of qualitative and quantitative evaluation approaches can enhance understanding of a reform effort. During the 1991-92 school year, the final year of the project, Fowler Drive Elementary School…

The impact of large-scale testing on curriculum policies at district and school levels and on science teaching at the classroom level was studied for British Columbia (Canada). Other factors affecting teaching practices were considered. In 1983, the Province reintroduced centrally set and graded province-wide examinations for grade 12, following a…