Independent schools are, for the most part, exempt from mandatory participation in standardized tests designed for state and federal comparisons, nor are they required to take part in comparative international assessments. The anxiety in the broader culture, however, is driving a growing interest among independent school parents (and prospective…

In this article, I offer an examination of findings from a recently completed qualitative study conducted in the south-eastern region of the US. In the study, nine teachers from three different schools representing two different school districts were interviewed twice about how they dealt with their students' Stanford Achievement Test 10 (SAT 10)…

In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article…

The "HOPE Scale" was developed to identify academic and social components of giftedness and talent in elementary-aged students with particular attention to students from low-income and/or culturally diverse families. Based on previous findings, additional research was conducted on revisions made to the "HOPE Scale". Items were…

This technical brief describes the large-scale assessment measures and practices used in the jurisdictions served by the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory. The need for effective large-scale assessment was identified as a major priority for improving student achievement in the Pacific Region jurisdictions: American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, the…

In randomized controlled trials (RCTs) where the outcome is a student-level, study-collected test score, a particularly valuable piece of information is a study-collected baseline score from the same or similar test (a pre-test). Pre-test scores can be used to increase the precision of impact estimates, conduct subgroup analysis, and reduce bias…

This study contributes a novel perspective on grade retention by empirically examining how classroom composition relates to the standardized-testing performance of grade-retained students in their post-retained years. This evaluation employed a sample of entire cohorts of urban elementary school children in the Philadelphia School District over 6…

The new seventh edition of the Stanford Achievement Test adapted for hearing impaired students incorporates such characteristics as separate reading and math booklets, printing of many of the items previously dictated, elimination or change of items found to be biased, an expanded norms table, and a flexible scoring system. (CL)

Students with learning disabilities can prepare for the SATs (Stanford Achievement Tests) by (1) counseling sessions to discuss college prerequisites and pre-admission tests; (2) taking more academic courses or procuring necessary remedial help; (3) school personnel identifying and correcting skill weaknesses; and (4) discussing abuses and uses of…

Diagnostic judgments are often based on the comparison of two measures in order to judge whether the individual shows a genuine discrepancy in the traits or characteristics that the two measures represent. Until a perfect psychometric battery comes along, psychometricians can offer some guidance on the level of confidence to be placed in…

Educational standards are an essential tool for many school districts in their efforts to increase student academic achievement. Elementary school administrators and teachers play a critical role in the process of gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing student data with the goal of creating a meaningful plan to accomplish this goal. This article…

Explanations of and guidelines for using the Stanford Achievement Test for Hearing Impaired (SAT-HI) children are given. Types of scores from the test (raw scores, grade equivalent scores, scaled scores, and percentile rankings) are described. Limitations on test interpretations are suggested as well as reminders on using achievement test scores…

Both on-level and out-of-level tests were administered to third and fifth grade children in order to compare the scaled scores of different level tests of the same testing program and to discover whether the relationship between levels might be distorted by ceiling or floor effects. Only reading tests were used in this study. The Stanford…

The use of Stanford Achievement Tests (SATs) with hearing impaired students is considered. Background of the test is given, and the SAT-HI (SAT for the Hearing Impaired) is discussed in terms of its content, item wording, and norms. Among six specific recommendations made are to use the SAT-HI because it minimizes floor and ceiling effects,…

The final report describes the accomplishments of an 18-month study designed to adapt and standardize the 7th Edition of the Stanford Achievement Test with a national, randomly drawn sample of hearing-impaired students. The following objectives were accomplished: (1) test material and special procedures were developed and disseminated; (2) the…