In "How Is Testing Supposed to Improve Schooling?" Edward Haertel has proposed a framework for thinking about the mechanisms by which testing might improve the various educational processes undertaken in schools. The framework seems to the author to be quite general (he uses the word "general" here in its mathematical sense of including all cases)…

This reply to William A. Mehrens argues that although some psychometricians are reluctant to endorse the use of test data for educational decision making, it is desirable that measurement specialists provide decision makers with practical, understandable ways to use test data. (JAZ)

The traditional use of scores derived from standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests is examined as to its role in a local school system's efforts to monitor itself and to examine how well individual students, schools and the overall system are functioning. Several questions regarding the legitimacy of well-established practices involving…

This paper addresses the controversy about use of "out-of-level" testing, the practice of assessing students (usually those with disabilities) with a lower-level version of a test. The controversy pits unintended instructional consequences against "accurately" measuring performance and avoiding student frustration. Introductory…

The Presidential Address at the 1986 National Council on Measurement in Education Annual Meeting argues that measurement specialists have tended to set unrealistic aspirations for the role tests play. The conjunctive decision making model is discussed and the use of data in the conjunctive and compensatory decision making models is examined. (JAZ)

This reply to William A. Mehrens argues that test validity is the central issue in discussing the appropriate role of tests. It states that the procedures used to establish the validity of tests are inadequate because they depend primarily on content validity and not on construct and criterion validity. (JAZ)

This Handbook is intended to help educators understand testing, interpret test results, and defend the selection, construction, and use of tests. The Handbook, tailored to the needs of educators, analyzes only tests used by educators. The Handbook contains more than 100 reviews of tests used routinely to make education decisions and assess skills…

Discusses the problem of educational testing that results in differential educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. It critically examines the proposition that there may be ways to justify the decisions made on the basis of differential test performance that are consistent with the requirements of equality. (GLR)

In this study, FairTest evaluated how well state assessment practices live up to the promise of high standards without standardization. The practices of states were measured against standards derived from the "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems," a 1995 publication of education and civil rights groups working…

FairTest evaluated how well state assessment practices live up to the promise of high standards without standardization. The practices of states were measured against standards derived from the "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems," a 1995 publication of education and civil rights groups working through the National…

Many educators are shifting their teaching strategies and approaches to include more emphasis on critical thinking skills, the communication of ideas, a variety of approaches to content emphasizing varied student learning styles, and the need to draw explicit connections among topics for retention of learning. Real-world assessment measures, then,…

Argues that high-stakes primary grade testing increases pressure on low-achieving schools to improve test performance and increases chances that low achieving children will be retained in grade or classified as handicapped. It is suggested that current practices be modified to eliminate motives to engage in such placement practices. (SLD)

Despite the many limitations of standardized tests, schools use them to determine if children are ready for school, to group students for instruction, to diagnose learning disabilities and other handicaps, and to guide and control the curriculum and teaching methods. No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for important…

Teacher testing-related attitudes and practices were explored in the context of court-ordered achievement testing in a school district engaged in desegregation. Responses to a mail survey (the Teacher Assessment Practices Questionnaire) from 79 teachers (grades 3, 4, and 5) across 13 elementary schools in a midwestern urban district suggest that…

This paper reviews eight major problem areas concerning testing practices of interest to professionals practicing psychology in the schools. These areas, identified by the Task Force on Psychology in the Schools of the American Psychological Association, include: (1) test use; (2) diagnostic versus placement tests; (3) informed parental consent…