Just like all the high-stakes tests that determine students' futures nowadays, The Chorizo Test is a standardized test rooted in the culture of the test makers. It was originally created to be used with students in teacher training programs to sensitize them to the pitfalls inherent in standardized pencil-and-paper tests, such as linguistic bias…

Studied 18 states with high-stakes testing to see if their programs were affecting student learning, analyzing results from additional tests covering some of the same domain as each state's own test. Findings suggest that in all but one case, student learning is indeterminate, remains at the same level, or actually decreases with the…

Discusses issues of validity in high-stakes testing, beginning with some purposes of a testing program and proceeding to some underlying assumptions about testing. Suggests four possible studies to address assumptions often ignored by asking various groups of people about testing. (SLD)

This brief addresses the benefits and concerns raised by the use of high stakes testing as the centerpiece of new accountability systems. It offers some recommendations for policymakers seeking to incorporate such tests into state accountability systems. High stakes tests can clarify and establish challenging performance expectations for students,…

L. Cronbach has made the point that for validity arguments to be convincing to diverse audiences, they need to be based on assumptions that are credible to these audiences. The interpretations and uses of high stakes test scores rely on a number of policy assumptions about what should be taught in schools, and more specifically, about the content…

This theme issue focuses on the use and consequences of high stakes tests. The lead article, "High-Stakes Testing: Too Much? Too Soon?" by Sherry Freeland Walker, introduces the topic and related issues, outlining the pros and cons of high stakes testing by the states. The problem, some experts say, is that states have tried to do too much too…

Results from a national survey of teachers are reported for five types of state testing programs, those with: (1) high stakes for districts, schools, or teachers, and students; (2) high stakes for districts, schools, and teachers, and moderate stakes for students; (3) high stakes for districts, schools, and teachers, and low stakes for students;…

This document consists of articles 1 through 25 published in the electronic journal Education Policy Analysis Archives for the year 2002: (1) Testing and Diversity in Postsecondary Education: The Case of California (Daniel Koretz, Michael Russell, Chingwei David Shin, Cathy Horn, and Kelly Shasby); (2) State-Mandated Testing and Teachers Beliefs…

Scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests are used to select exemplary schools in Massachusetts, and the schools thus identified can receive awards from three different programs. This study examined the evidence about the use of MCAS scores to assess school quality. These three programs use MCAS to identify exemplary…

The objections of testing experts to standardized testing are evaluated. The report begins with a foreword by Chester E. Finn, Jr., followed by an executive summary and an introduction. Four case studies include: (1) experts' opposition to high-stakes testing in Texas; (2) in North Carolina; (3) concerns raised in connection with the National…

This paper reviews recent developments in the growth of testing as a requirement for high school graduation for K-12 public school systems throughout the United States. It then examines performance patterns on such tests by focusing on results for students indifferent racial and ethnic groups in several states. The multiple meanings of the…

Places performance assessment in the context of high-stakes uses, describes underlying technologies, and outlines the history of performance testing from 210 B.C.E. to the present. Historical issues of fairness, efficiency, cost, and infrastructure influence contemporary efforts to use performance assessments in large-scale, high-stakes testing…

The nature of percentile ranks scores is explored using concrete heuristic examples. It is explained why arithmetic operations require measurement on equal-interval scales, and that percentile ranks are not measured on equal-interval scales and therefore may not be added or averaged. The consequences of inappropriately adding percentile ranks are…

Implications of using alternative assessments for accountability in a high-stakes testing environment (using tests to make impact decisions for students, schools, or teachers) are examined. The psychometric properties of standardized alternative assessments are discussed, and the consequences of their use are considered. (SLD)

The President and the Department of Education have advocated national testing, but they have not really justified their use. Most educators argue for the importance of multiple assessments, rather than a single test of achievement with great impact on the future of a student and an educational system. Misuses of test results would plague national…