There's accountability and then there's the testing craze an iatrogenic practice that undermines real learning. Hedrick documents the negative effects of testing, giving teachers another weapon in their arsenal against mindless preparation for high-stakes tests.

This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the comparability of the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP[TM]) test scores across language and administration condition groups for calibration and validation samples that were randomly drawn from the same population. Fit statistics supported both the calibration and…

This research examines the effect of two testing strategies on academic achievement and summative evaluations in an introductory statistics course. In 2001, 63 students underwent an hourly midterm format; and in 2002, 68 students underwent a bi-weekly exam format. Other than the exam format, the class lectures and labs were identical in terms of…

The community in Rockland County is working together to come up with proposed changes to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This may be the only community-wide effort in the United States to closely study the lengthy law and recommend detailed changes to it. Under the Rockland County plan, which is discussed in this article, the tests in the…

The role of school psychologists and counselors in assessment is well established. With the current emphasis on collaboration in schools and the use of a pupil services model to deliver services, it is important to examine ways in which school psychologists and counselors can work together for assessment purposes. School psychologists' involvement…

This paper presents strategies that address the needs of the school district assessment office for standardized procedures to support reliable and efficient test processing and reporting and that meet the needs of school staff for test administration guidelines. The key to test administration and processing quality is a knowledgeable test…

This report presents the results of a working meeting to provide guidance to staff at the National Center for Education Statistics on: (1) establishing guidelines for inclusion of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), field tests, research, and development; (2) modifications in the…

In considering applicants for teaching positions, school districts rely on teacher credentials such as state certification or teacher tests to determine the qualifications of a candidate. To determine whether there has been a trend toward increasing reliance on tests in teacher hiring processes, this brief presents data on public school districts'…

The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) study describes either 3- or 4-year trends in average campus-level passing rates on TAAS at all grade levels. It discusses student, teacher, campus, and district characteristics as they may relate to student success on TAAS by looking at data for students in grades 4, 8, and 10 for four consecutive…

Although gender differences are fairly consistent when men and women report their general confidence, much less is known about the existence of such differences when subjects are asked to assess the degree of confidence they have in their ability to answer any particular test or exam question. The objective of this research was to investigate…

Standardized college-level tests of thinking have serious drawbacks, but they can be used effectively to compare results with other teachers or researchers and to suggest possible ways of measuring aspects of thinking in faculty-constructed tests. Faculty-designed tests should provide opportunities for students to use the important knowledge and…

The Florida Statewide Assessment Program tests students' achievement of basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 on the State Student Assessment Test-Part I (SSAT-I). In addition, high school students are tested on practical math and reading tasks on the State Student Assessment Test-Part II (SSAT-II). This…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), one of the most commonly used tests of cognitive ability, is difficult to administer accurately. The purpose of this study was primarily to assess interrater agreement on the WISC-R Administration Observational Checklist (WAOC), a new observational instrument that can be used by an…

This report describes the structure, format, and processes of Iowa's General Educational Development (GED) test center structure and presents the results, conclusions, and recommendations from an evaluation of that structure. The major purposes of the evaluation were to assess the effectiveness of Iowa's new statewide GED structure, determine…

This operations manual for field staff (site monitors, site coordinators, and testers) involved in the observation and testing of children is part of a series of documents on the evaluation of Project Developmental Continuity (PDC), a Head Start demonstration program aimed at providing educational and developmental continuity between children's…