"Accountability" and "assessment" are terms that are frequently misused and misunderstood. This document is intended to stimulate conversations about assessment of and accountability for student learning, to raise assessment issues that may prevent improved student learning, and raise awareness about the relationship between assessment and…

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)

Retired vice-president of Educational Testing Service asserts that chances for tests being misused are greater than ever. Speech delivered at ETS's Invitational Conference on Testing Problems on October 28, 1972, in New York, New York. (DS)

The study sought to evaluate the extent to which certain objective tests, ward behavior ratings, recorded verbalization scores, and interview behavior ratings possessed convergent and discriminant validity for 10 psychotic syndromes. It was concluded that the convergent and discriminant validity of the syndromes is strongly supported. (Author)

This study was concerned with the effect of experiences with test-type problems on the test performance of Negro children from a low socioeconomic area. When subjects are tested on material on which it cannot be assumed they have had equal prior exposure, first scores are less stable and typical. (Author)

The North Carolina End-of-Grade Testing Program is based on the assessment of higher-level skills, the thinking and problem-solving strategies that enable people to access, sort, and digest information. The end-of-grade tests, which are aligned with the state's "Standard Course of Study," were designed to be administered at the end of…

Increasing public understanding of school testing programs is seen as the joint responsibility of test publishers and schools, and also as a primary responsibility on the part of test publishers to increase the schools' understanding of tests. The most common areas of misunderstanding about tests are addressed: purpose of the testing program; the…

The selection, administration and results of a statewide school readiness test in South Carolina are described in this report. As one component of South Carolina's Basic Skills Assessment Program, the "Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery" (CSAB) was chosen to distinguish those children who are ready for the formal first grade curriculum…

Local educational agencies and county office staff are provided with information and specific guidelines on the development, maintenance and evaluation of local district testing programs. This manual contains New Jersey approved criteria for local testing programs, a step-by-step presentation of methods for planning, designing and evaluating…

While studying testing programs in juvenile incarceratory facilities, the authors found that there may be racial bias in the tests, test items, and in the interpretation of the tests. This article presents new data that have emerged from their original study. The focus is on performance on standardized norm-referenced tests. (CT)

Comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the reading portions of the California Achievement Tests. (JT)

This paper is based on guidelines developed in 1989 for training workshops for state and local educators to demonstrate the processes by which performance assessments could be created, validated, and used in statewide assessment programs. These guidelines are based on work with the National Assessment of Educational Progress and several statewide…

Investigations show that the nature of conditions affecting motivation influences test performance more than variations in the manner of presentation or in the program strategy. These findings are considered more useful in the designing of teacher programs than reliance on a computer. (Text is in German.) (Author/AM)

All New Jersey students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 11 are tested annually in basic reading and computation skills using the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) Tests. The MBS testing program was initiated in 1976. The former Educational Assessment Program tests were used during the tramsition, and test development activities were begun in 1977.…