Tests of mental ability provide the most precise and efficient means of assessing a person's structure of knowledge. Tests help in cultivating cognitive competence, in developing and identifying excellence. The harmful consequences of not testing are outlined. (Author/AL)

The integration of testing and learning are discussed as urgent tasks for test developers, examiners, and guidance specialists. The implications of Edmonds' concept of educational equity (see TM 506 980) and Krumboltz's view of the role of testing in guidance (see TM 506 981) are analyzed. (CM)

The history of test development and the current controversy over standardized testing are reviewed. The consequences of testing, particularly for minority groups, are outlined, and criticism of some viewpoints of professors Robert Ebel and Melvin Tumin is made. (Author/AL)

Information on a wide variety of tests used in schools is provided. The purposes for which principals and teachers employ test results and their feelings about how successful test data are in helping them to meet their goals are discussed. (Author/PN)

Shifting from aptitude to achievement tests for college admissions is discussed with implications toward the positive educational effects of rewarding diligence and serious study in high school. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is compared with other achievement tests reqarding effects on schools and equal opportunity. (CM)

The need for accuracy in testing, the unintended social consequences, and the contrast of achievement and aptitude tests are discussed in response to the views of Jencks and Crouse (see TM 506 983) regarding whether to change the function of the SAT. (CM)

Given the difficulty of admissions decisions, admissions officers must use all of the information they can secure to evaluate a student's potential for graduate study. The various admissions procedures and uses of standardized tests in the 10 schools of the University of Virginia are described. (Author/CM)

Admissions testing and its consequences are looked upon as a reflection of the current debate occurring in Western capitalist democracies concerning the optimization of freedom, fairness, and wealth. In dealing with the competition and conflict of values and interests, there can be no factual but political resolution. (Author/AL)

Innovations in testing and guidance which can integrate assessment to facilitate learning, help develop practical wisdom in behavior, and correct students' faulty cognitions in career decisions are described. (CM)

The need to use images and imagery in language in schools, and to recognize and measure such aptitudes are discussed. Tests of imagination are presented, and the San Francisco Art Institute Study of predictors of ability in art illustrates methods and implications for measurement of creativity in educational programs. (CM)

Teachers have become aware that they are expected to make judgments and be judged on the basis of test results. In a shared responsibility among teachers, training institutions, testing companies, and school boards, fair use of tests requires that teachers get information on types of tests and test use. (Author/CM)

A number of major studies are discussed concerning the effects of testing on schools and needed changes in test use to improve education. Test use is analyzed at building and classroom levels for insights on better education, and at local, state, and national levels for oversights of educational progress. (Author/CM)

Community colleges have substantially different testing needs from four-year colleges. Since almost all community colleges are open-door institutions, tests are used less for admissions purposes than for placement, guidance, and awarding of credit. (Author)

An essential element in establishing educational equity is the use of educational testing and standardized norm-referenced tests, in particular, to identify and analyze problems in school effectiveness. The performance of children from low-income families is the best indicator of school response to minimum skills needs. (CM)

The implicit responsibility of colleges and universities to use tests to match the capabilities of the diversity of students with the requirements of programs of study is examined. Test uses in admissions and counseling are shown to be an important means of predicting success. (Author/CM)