Argues that testing and sin both are based on assumptions about values. Proposes and describes the seven deadly sins of testing: procedural mechanization, competitive coerciveness, cultural egocentrism, overeagerness (gluttony), avarice (greed), disconnection from community, and ignorance of self-implication. (SR)

Describes how the author prepares students for the test using genre study and problem-solving strategies. Notes how she struggles with questions about the role that tests play in schools and in children's lives. Notes the importance of teaching students how to take the test, but recognizes it has become more important to help them understand the…

A strength of this exploration of testing and test use in the United States is the concern for how tests affect student conceptions of learning and student relation to knowledge. A weakness is a persistent confounding of classroom and large-scale assessment for state and national purposes. (SLD)

"Assessing Student Performance" sets forth arguments for looking at testing and assessment. The exploration is more about morality and epistemology than about technology and politics. A principal assumption is that mainstream assessment and testing philosophy is flawed. (SLD)

In this address to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, the Executive Director of the National Education Association (NEA) outlines the Association's objections to standardized tests. First, the interpretations of tests are usually based on several fallacious assumptions about education. For example, to say that a skill can be tested implies…

The paper discusses issues involved in the identification of gifted handicapped children, reviewing several research studies that attempted to define a specific configuration of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised subtest scores indicative of handicapped children possessing intellectual gifts. The author concludes that profiles and…

Intended both to evaluate the California testing program's success in assessing student achievement in the basic skills and to suggest possible improvements in the program, this report includes an executive summary evaluating current testing procedures, describing experimental studies on new ways of testing and reporting testing information, and…

This report describes the development, operation, maintenance, and future prospects of the item banks pioneered by the Portland (Oregon) School District. At the time of this report, there were 3,500 mathematics, 2,200 reading, and 2,300 language usage items calibrated under the fixed parameter model of item response theory (IRT) for Grades 3-8.…

This review of literature from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database is the second volume on the topic of testing and assessment for the counseling professional; the first volume was published in 1979. The sections on minimum competency tests identify issues of current interest, e.g., the basic issue of definition; the…

The perspective of the examinee during the administration of a computerized adaptive test (CAT) is discussed, focusing on issues of test development. Item review is the first issue discussed. Virtually no CATs provide the opportunity for the examinee to go back and review, and possibly change, answers. There are arguments on either side of the…

Florida's Commissioner of Education recently appointed a task force to review current standards for the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and the effect of raising the levels of passing scores that are proposed for 1989. There is now a sufficient history of the CLAST to provide an understanding of the program's benefits and liabilities.…

These comments provide further details which expand upon the recommendations of the subcommittee on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Writing. Three issues are discussed. The first concerns how objectives of assessment in writing ought to be stated. The 1984 objectives are stated in general terms without reference to what might…

This paper describes the development of a language arts test to assess the consistency of student response patterns and the feasibility of using the test to diagnose students' misconceptions. The studies were part of a project to develop computerized adaptive testing for the language arts with software to diagnose student errors. The…

Discussions at the National Consortium on Testing conference are summarized. Updates on recent and upcoming events are given by Jeff Schiller (National Institute of Education), Doug Whitney (American Council on Education), John Maxwell (National Council of Teachers of English), Dorianne Almann (National Science Teachers Association), Eric Gardner…

The experiences of state and local education agencies in implementing the RMC evaluation models in their evaluations of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are discussed with emphasis on the problems encountered, suggestions for resolving these problems, and encouraging results which have been reported. Four activities are…