Since 1915, the movement to test reading ability has grown in importance and pervasiveness. Testing is relied on to offer quantitative information, to determine the usefulness of instructional approaches, and to help ensure accountability. The demand for tests arose during the period from 1990 to 1992 when school became compulsory and educators…

The author examines previous efforts to establish certifying examinations for high school students and their effects on curriculum and students, particularly minorities. Also, to introduce readers to the rest of this theme issue on testing, he briefly discusses test validity, cutoff scores, and effects on teachers. (SJL)

Explores the history of testing, motivations for testing, testing procedures, and the inevitable limitations of testing. Argues that writing program faculty and administrators must clarify and profess their values, decide what they want students to know and what sort of thinkers they should be, and develop tests reflecting those needs. (SR)

The conference theme was Testing--Then and Now, based upon the assumption that psychometrists should review their origins and look forward to their future. In the area of intelligence testing, Nancy Bayley discussed the research that re-assessed previous concepts of the nature of intellectual growth and decline. Thelma Thurstone discussed new…