This booklet is intended to help school personnel, parents, students, and members of the community understand concepts and research relating to achievement testing in public schools. The paper's sections include: (1) test use with direct effects on students (test of certification, selection, and placement); (2) test use with indirect effects on…

This booklet is planned to help teachers, parents, students, and community members to understand concepts and research relating to testing in public schools. Three general uses--public access, accountability, and standards--relate to testing in its broadest conception. The major purposes of tests are discussed, as are some different types of…

In the spring of 1979, the National Institute of Education, in collaboration with the United States Office of Education, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE), and members of a nation-wide network of research and development agencies, sponsored a national colloquy on the theme that testing could have an important impact in improving…