What effect is the "back to basics" movement having on American teachers and schools? Are the media and the politicians taking the public for a ride? Reports on the controversies surrounding such issues as standards, testing and accountability. (Editor)

Citing test scores as evidence of student achievement ignores the value of curricular areas in which knowledge cannot be measured objectively. Educators and parents who criticize the effectiveness of public education often do so on the basis of test scores rather than in terms of alternative, subjective educational goals. (PGD)

Provides a brief chronology of events which took place in the development of the statewide eighth grade assessment of history/social science in California. Describes the content of the tests and lists the names of the individuals who served on the various development committees. (JDH)

Adopting a new series of tests can raise student test scores. Scores can also be inflated by ensuring certain students do not take specific tests or by not counting some scores. Dramatic rises in standardized scores are likely to be accompanied by skepticism. (MD)

This paper describes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), developed by I. Myers and K. Briggs (1940s) to assess personality type. Based on Jungian theory, the MBTI has become a tool for identifying the 16 different patterns of action into which every person fits. The 16 personality types are based on patterns of: (1) extraversion-introversion;…

Three groups of persons are involved in the testing enterprise: test producers, test users, and test takers. A wide literature is available to guide the first two groups, but only recently have measurement professionals considered the interests of test takers in any careful way. The content of this chapter is presented as a set of 26…

College course placement systems match students with instruction that is appropriate to their academic preparation and other characteristics. At a minimum, course placement involves assessing students' academic skills and providing them with instruction that is appropriate to their skills. Upon entry to college, students might encounter different…

Many individuals working in education-related professions have a variety of needs for educational and psychological tests results regarding their students or clients. This chapter addresses school counselors' use of tests in educational settings and the right to test as a competency-based issue. Although the subject appears on the surface not to…

Tests--typically cognitive achievement tests--are instruments for providing a more sensitive analysis of the learning sequence and of the instruction guiding it. In addition to an overall score, standardized tests provide a variety of subscores that help the teachers identify where a student might be encountering the greatest difficulties. The…

One role of counselors and educators is to use assessment in the service of students and clients by monitoring educational progress and ensuring that learning is taking place. Under the right conditions and with proper use, employing technology to foster assessment practices can introduce helpful and productive efficiencies into the educational…

Discusses ways testing can help students learn if the teacher can remove the aura and function of evaluation from the experience. (GB)

The purpose of this study is to examine the SACU variables in relation to other commonly used variables in predicting university success in Alberta. (Author)

Author discusses common sense, reasoning processes, and the scheduling of examinations and their predictability. (RK)

Results of experiment showed that of the 80 per cent of students cheating, roughly half had a GPA of over 85. (SP)