Officials of the United States Department of Education conclude that the pervasive "above average" achievement reported by J. J. Cannell (1988) results from a combination of testing practices and procedures among school testing programs. Causative factors of this paradox, dubbed the "Lake Wobegon Phenomenon," are discussed.…

Representatives of the Riverside Publishing Company discuss the "Lake Wobegon Phenomenon," the reported "above average" achievement of most elementary schools nationwide that was discussed by J. J. Cannell (1988) of the Friends for Education. More appropriate use of normative comparisons and more complete reporting of test…

The time-bound nature of test norms is discussed in light of the report of J. J. Cannell (1988) that a large majority of elementary schools report above average achievement on national achievement tests. Generally increasing levels of achievement are deemed to be responsible for this phenomenon. (SLD)

Recognizing the concerns raised by J. J. Cannell (1988), Science Research Associates (SRA) defends its norms. Trends in curriculum need to be monitored in addition to students' achievement levels. New norms are needed only when there is a significant shift in curriculum or student performance. (SLD)

Despite the skepticism of J. J. Cannell (1988) that commercial test scores reveal much about the real achievement level of students, there is ample evidence that at least some of the gains observed on standardized tests are legitimate. Standardized scores should be greeted with healthy skepticism when high, but taken very seriously when low. (SLD)

Investigated certain measurement properties of the Ethical Judgment Scale. Results revealed findings of questionable validity and unacceptably low reliability for the instrument even though three different scoring methods were used in the analysis. (Author)

Points out that children's growth in response to literature is not assessed by existing standardized tests or by progress from one textbook to another. Suggests guidelines for teacher observation of children's responses and provides a checklist for assessing oral and written reactions. (FL)

Provides a sampling of recent program development ideas that show the varied nature of test wiseness instruction. Warns that teachers are unsophisticated test writers. (ARH)

Evaluates the utility of the Bannatyne recategorization of WISC-R subtest scores for diagnosing and prescribing instruction for reading/learning disabled children. Concludes that the use of such scores is not warranted. (FL)

This study examines a score-difference model for the detection of cheating based on the difference between two scores for an examinee: one based on the appropriate scoring key and another based on an alternative, inappropriate key. It argues that the score-difference method could falsely accuse students as cheaters. (Author/JAZ)

Commenting on the Gesell Institute's response to his original article concerning the Gesell assessments, Dr. Meisels continues to maintain that the Gesell readiness tests lack sufficient proof of validity. (BB)

Reports a quasi-experimental study involving an objective test that was intentionally mis-scored on the copies of the exam returned to students. Results showed that not all perceived errors were reported and that the decision to report errors appeared dependent on whether reporting was to the benefit of the student. (Author/JDH)

Although formal assessment of children with severe disabilities raises many problems of measurement, evaluation by "standard rulers" is still essential. This article examines the role of the school psychologist in the measurement process and identifies issues related to the assessment of developmentally disabled children. (Author/EGS)

It is argued that the tendency to omit items is a deviant response characteristic. Three studies using a self-actualization measure are outlined. Persons who omitted items did so because of fatigue, confusion with some items, unpreparedness to disclose information, and/or because they may not trust the researcher with certain information.…

A number of studies have found that essays are scored higher when preceded by poor quality scripts than when preceded by good quality scripts. This study investigated the effects of scoring procedures designed to reduce the influence of context. Context effects were found irrespective of the scoring procedure used. (Author/PN)