The tests we use to evaluate student achievement may well be sound measures of what students know, but they are faulty indicators at best of how well they have been taught. A remedy to this this situation of judging teachers by the performance of their students on high-stakes tests may be in hand already. We should look to the methods successfully…

The use of standardized tests for outcome assessment has grown dramatically in recent years. Two driving factors have been the No Child Left Behind legislation, and the increase in outcome assessment measures by accrediting agencies such as AACSB, the international accrediting body for business schools. Despite the growth in usage, little effort…

Four testing schemes are outlined: post-test only, pretest/post-test, the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) Model, and the EIPI Model which takes into account the learning style and the psychosocial background of the learner. The EIPI model has three phases: placement, counseling, and intervention. (RAO)

The International Test Commission formed a 13-person committee of psychologists representing a number of international organizations to prepare a set of guidelines for adapting educational and psychological tests. The committee has worked for 3 years to produce near final drafts of 22 guidelines organized into 4 categories: (1) context; (2)…

Describes the 1997 revision of the Dutch Rating System for Test Quality used by a committee of the Dutch Association of Psychologists. The rating system evaluates test quality on seven criteria using a checklist for each criterion. Comment sections provide additional information, and weighting rules establish the final grades. (SLD)

Examines teachers' major concerns about testing and offers advice about how to encourage teachers to respect the testing program. (WD)

Discusses the direction large-scale educational testing is heading, pointing out pitfalls in current and future use of such tests. The large-scale assessment community seems to be unconcerned about the central mission of education, the instruction of children. (SLD)

In the 1971-72 IMS tryout, the first step in processing data after a teacher tests her pupils was mailing of criterion exercises to the Forms Control Center. This simple step often added significant amounts to total processing turnaround time. Comparison of delays between testing and mailing are presented for districts, schools and teachers and…

Careful management of a testing program can greatly limit a teacher's opportunity to cheat while administering standardized tests to students and can increase the likelihood that such cheating will be detected. The Austin Independent School District's systemwide testing staff's plan for controlling cheating has three basic premises: (1) plan and…

This paper offers the classroom teacher a positive answer for the test anxious student. The writer developed a group testing strategy which is concerned with ways students learn as well as subject matter testing. This evaluation strategy used successfully in high school and college classes is based on group work principles as applied in the…

The results of survey that found out how many of 269 engineering schools deliver accredited programs via television are discussed. Information about the technologies employed, the use of tutors in conjunction with videotaped courses, and logistics of exam monitoring and exam security is provided. A list of colleges offering televised engineering…

Declining test scores are but a reflection of the problems prevalent in American schools but improving school performance is not totally within the control of teachers. A National Education Association Teacher Opinion Study indicates that teachers think tests become an end in themselves rather than a basis for sound educational purposes.…

Two achievement testing programs in New York City that have had and are having some consequences are described, and how the school system tries to determine and deal with these consequences is explored. Cooperation and open dialog between test publishers and the school district are making it possible to deal with the real-life problems of test…

Marking is described as part of the central examinations for secondary general education in the Netherlands. These consist of two components: an external, and an internal school-based examination. Pedadogical implications of general school assessment practice, plus recent trends, are discussed. (BS)

An inservice teacher education program--designed to make those administering tests more aware of the difficulties students face in a testing due to discriminatory factors inherent in evaluation instruments--is described, and information is provided on program purposes, content, activities, resources, ordering information, and history of…