Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…

This research, conducted for California State Department of Education, is one component of a feasibility study focusing on ways to make the testing process more efficient by application of multi-purpose tests (MPT). MPT are designed, administered and scored to serve more than one purpose and to consolidate and unify testing programs as a partial…

The importance of developing culturally specific tests for black children is addressed, along with the overall issue of whether a criterion used to discriminate among groups is valid for the population for which it is used. In addition, a brief historical review illustrates accessibility to full participation of citizens and noncitizens of early…

Many of the evaluations summarized in state and local Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I reports have been negatively affected by methodological errors or the use of different, incompatible formats. Although new, detailed evaluation and reporting procedures have been developed for Title I research projects, two problems remain:…

After reviewing three current approaches to handling students who fail to meet minimum competency standards, the author proposes a new approach to minimum competency testing. The three common reactions are: (1) doing nothing to help failing students; (2) denying students their high school diplomas; and (3) requiring students to take remedial…

Use of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests (WRMT), individually administered wide ranging reading tests, was explored, using Title I evaluation Models A1 and A2. Attention was focused on: (1) relationship of the Title I curriculum to the WRMT and the SRA Reading Test; (2) comparative reading achievement gains on both tests, using Model A1; and (3)…

It appears that those who develop tests are not meeting the needs of classroom teachers. The types of tests which have traditionally been used in the classroom are inconsistent with, and in many cases, irrelevant to, the realities of teaching. When tests are designed to be relatively immune to the variations in experience and response that…

The author takes the position that standardized tests, as presently developed and marketed, do have potentially positive uses. However, these advantages are outweighed by the tests' deleterious effects on children and programs. Standardized tests refer to published, norm referenced, achievement and intelligence tests which contain specific…

Six speech and language clinicians, 3 black and 3 white, administered the Goodenough Drawing Test (1926) to 144 preschoolers. The 4 groups, lower-socioeconomic black and white and middle-socioeconomic black and white, were equally divided by sex. The biracial clinical setting was shown to influence test scores in black preschool age children.…

A discussion of the limited meaning of test scores, testing as an invasion of privacy, the abuse of test scores as confidential information and privileged communication, recording and storing of test results, access to test scores, and the demand for accountability forms the basis for recommendations for the release of individual and group test…

It is asserted in this paper that some standardized tests do not do a good job of what they claim to do, and for some testing purposes nonstandardized tests are more appropriate or efficient. Under present circumstances, group I.Q. tests should be abolished. They provide no useful information that cannot be gained from achievement tests. And what…

The increasing use of educational performance or outcome measurements for a range of policy purposes points to new procedures for adjusting data for population composition. The purposes include: program formulation, budget resource allocation, grant-in-aid designs, performance incentive payments, consumer information for school selection, and…

This text prepares students to quantify observations through psychological testing. Measurement is critical in all the subareas of psychology, and the text begins by discussing the applications of testing in the subdisciplines of psychology. The book also discusses the extent to which tests are actually used. Early chapters discuss general…

Minnesota has developed a statewide assessment in response to the national movement toward state accountability and high standards for all students. The Minnesota Basic Standards Tests currently assess whether a student has achieved a minimum level of competency in reading, math, and writing. Limited English speaking (LEP) students in Minnesota…

This report reviews the current literature (mostly since 1993) on testing accommodations for students with disabilities, with an emphasis on studies examining the effects of testing accommodations on the technical integrity of assessment measures. The report notes a continuing lack of empirical research on testing accommodations, but evidence of…