An advisory committee representing counselors, curriculum specialists, students, teachers, and community members should participate in selecting standardized tests for school districts. These steps should be followed: (1) identify test purpose in relation to needs and objectives--diagnosis, placement, career guidance, program evaluation; (2)…

The basic rationale for using standardized tests for college admission, credit, and placement is that they are relevant and reliable. Such tests require the student to demonstrate the kind of competence that schools teach--the kind of competence required to work effectively in the modern world, to develop fully the human potential, and to enjoy…

After a period of striving for equal educational opportunity and progress toward that goal, American society is now shifting toward more emphasis on educational quality. However, some fear that the rise of Minimum Competency Testing (MCT) may hinder rather than help minority students' opportunities for equal education. Despite gains in the number…

The inequality of opportunity that sometimes results from educational reform may not be an artifact or an aberration but may be the intended result of most programs. Although the ostensible goal of most educational reform is equal opportunity, very few programs achieve this goal. It is possible that the real goal of educational reform is continued…

An educational cognitive style map was prepared for each new student in the Allied Health Division of Spartanburg Technical College in Fall 1978. The Cognitive Style Map Interest Inventory was administered and individual profile sheets were developed for each of the 130 students in the division. These profile sheets provided a composite picture of…

The Spanish Picture Vocabulary Test was designed to provide a Spanish-language translation of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test which would be suitable for Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican school-children in New York City. The 300 stimulus words were translated according to a consensus of linguists and persons of Puerto Rican descent, and were…

The 1979 Nationwide Teacher Opinion Poll conducted by the National Education Association was sent to 2,148 of the nation's approximately 2,185,000 public school teachers. The response rate to the poll was 82.7 percent. In this report the analysis of the responses are grouped according to the following topical areas: (1) teacher demographics; (2)…

The author presents his view that the public has not been well informed about the limitations of college entrance examinations. Several educational trends are discussed: (1) since World War II, college admissions testing has underscored the classic American tension between egalitarianism and meritocracy; (2) more students have aspired to attend…

The Minister's Advisory Committee on Student Achievement (MACOSA) of Alberta, Canada studied student achievement in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Students were tested in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies (grade 12 only). Tests were based upon cognitive objectives considered to be important to the curriculum, and results were to…

The reading comprehension tests, one for nine-year-olds usually in grade 3 and one for thirteen-year-olds usually in grade 7, were developed from released items on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The tests were constructed to assess student achievement against a national norm, by comparing individual student scores to the national…

One hundred fifty-one urban ninth grade students participated in an investigation of the effect of differentiated content in two congruent tests of reading. A congruent test was constructed by substituting information relevant to junior high school students within the parameters of a nonrelevant, standardized state test of reading. By maintaining…

THIS MANUAL DESCRIBES MEASURES USED IN "THE COGNITIVE ENVIRONMENTS OF URBAN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN" PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. THE SAMPLE FOR THE STUDY CONSISTED OF 163 NEGRO MOTHER-CHILD PAIRS SELECTED FROM 3 SOCIOECONOMIC CLASSES BASED ON THE FATHER'S OCCUPATION AND THE PARENTS' EDUCATION. A FOURTH GROUP INCLUDED FATHER-ABSENT…

THE STIMULATION OF BRIGHT UNDERACHIEVERS WAS THE GOAL OF A PROJECT CONDUCTED IN NINE FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOLS WITH A SAMPLE OF 44 EXPERIMENTAL AND 40 CONTROL GROUP STUDENTS. BRIGHT UNDERACHIEVERS WERE DEFINED AS STUDENTS WHO HAD SCORED ABOVE THE 75TH PERCENTILE ON THE SCHOOL AND COLLEGE ABILITY TEST IN THE NINTH GRADE, BUT WHOSE GRADES AVERAGED…

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS EXPERIMENT WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER HIERARCHICALLY DIFFERENTIATED GROUPS WERE AS PRODUCTIVE ON PROBLEM-SOLVING TASKS AS HIERARCHICALLY UNDIFFERENTIATED GROUPS. THE EXPERIMENT ALSO INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF FORMALLY BASED STATUS DIFFERENCES ON GROUP EFFICIENCY AND RISK-TAKING. TWENTY GROUPS CONTAINING FOUR SUBJECTS…

THIS MONOGRAPH, VIEWING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AS A POLITICAL ENTITY, DEVOTES ATTENTION TO BOTH ADMINISTRATIVE AND COMMUNITY PROBLEMS WHICH ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH SCHOOL DISTRICT REORGANIZATION. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE CONSEQUENCE OF REORGANIZATION IS THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE LARGER EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM REQUIRES CHANGES WHICH EITHER THE…