Background information about the first mathematics examinations given at Harvard in the academic year 1854-55 is given. The two instructors, Pierce and Eliot, responsible for the innovation are discussed. (MK)

Several test publishers respond to a charge of racism in testing, made by Robert L. Williams in the previous edition of this journal. Responding are: George Bennett of The Psychological Corporation, John Sommer of Houghton-Mifflin, Leo A. Munday of the American College Testing Program, Samuel Messick and Scarvia Anderson of the Educational Testing…

A series of questions designed to challenge school administrators to reconsider the purposes, selection, use, and interpretation of tests and test results in their school programs. (Author/DN)

This continuing ERIC/CAPS series, entitled Searchlight Plus, consists of two components: first, an in-depth review of cited materials, including prime issues and trends, and implications for helping professionals; and, second, citations from an ERIC computer search on the topic. Series topics are selected in response to user requests. Presented in…

Briefly describes what is meant by the English examination system, how it has come to take the forms that it does, and why such importance is attached to it. Thereafter, some problems and developments in examinations in art and design education are considered with six examination proposals summarizing the aims of art and design studies. (Author/RK)

This is the first of three volumes designed to cover the problems and issues of developing and managing a formal assessment program. They also offer guidelines and illustrations of several aspects of assessment programs, such as administering tests or documenting their results. This volume deals with the regulations governing school assessment…

Discusses considerations in developing assessment and placement programs: which students should be tested, why admission tests and high school grades are inappropriate for placement, how testing should be carried out, which tests should be used, and how tests should be interpreted. (DMM)

Compares examination practices at the end of secondary schooling in England, Federal Republic of Germany, France, Japan, People's Republic of China, Sweden, Soviet Union, and the United States. Considers the present status of these national examination systems, their alteration by social and educational changes, and their shaping of educational…

This is the third of three volumes designed to cover the problems and issues of developing and managing a formal assessment program. They also offer guidelines and illustrations of several of the more special aspects of assessment programs, such as administering tests or documenting their results. This volume contains summaries of technical…

Offers a historical perspective on testing in U.S. education, arguing that nationwide emphases on student assessment have been linked to vacillations in public confidence in the nation's educational system. Compares the focus on assessment that followed the expansion of secondary education between 1890 and 1935 with the current assessment…

Foresees a dramatic impact on student assessment for both placement and instruction by rapidly changing technology. Considers the use of computers in pretesting, placement, vocational interests/aptitude assessment, special population tests, diagnostic assessment, linking assessment and instruction, scoring tests and generating data, and providing…

Offers a review of ERIC documents providing descriptions of testing programs and evaluations of student assessment programs, as well as materials focusing on assessment validity, state testing initiatives, and cohort testing. (DMM)

Explores the relationship between mandates for educational excellence and more rigorous standards and the community college's role in providing access to educational opportunity for all students. Underscores the difference between accountability-based assessment and compliance-based testing. (DMM)

The New York State Preliminary Competency Test in Reading is designed to measure a student's ability to understand written material of varying levels of difficulty. Results are used to evaluate a student's current level of achievement in reading and to indicate the extent of compensatory or remedial help which may be necessary to pass the final…