This article is a description of the process of constructing an assessment of written and oral language for pre-service teachers. This assessment was used prior to their formal admission into the teacher education programme. The rationale for this evaluation is presented along with the actual processes involved. Finally, comparisons are made…

The field of social studies is unique and complex. It is challenged by the differing perspectives related to the definition, goals, content, and purpose of social studies. Contemporary Social Studies: An Essential Reader discusses the contemporary issues surrounding social studies education today. Contemporary Social Studies: An Essential Reader…

Economic development in Latin America has trailed most other world regions over the past four decades despite its relatively high initial development and school attainment levels. This puzzle can be resolved by considering the actual learning as expressed in tests of cognitive skills, on which Latin American countries consistently perform at the…

In spring 2009, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) continued its research on the impact of test-based federal and state accountability policies by conducting case studies of six high schools in six different districts within Washington State. The purpose was to learn more about the curricular and instructional changes that administrators and…

Background/Context: In response to state-level test-based accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school administrators increasingly view centralized curriculum and prescribed instructional strategies as the most direct means of increasing student performance. This movement toward standardization reduces teachers' autonomy and…

Extensive education research on the contribution of teachers to student achievement produces two generally accepted results. First, teacher quality varies substantially as measured by the value added to student achievement or future academic attainment or earnings. Second, variables often used to determine entry into the profession and…

The linkage between the impact of assessment and compliance with children's rights is a connection, which although seemingly obvious, is nonetheless rarely made, particularly by governments, which, as signatories to the relevant human rights treaties, have the primary responsibility for ensuring that educational practice is compatible with…

Factor analysis attempts to study how different objects group together to form factors with the purposes of: (1) reducing the number of factorable entities (e.g., variables) with which the researcher needs to deal; (2) searching data for qualitative and quantitative differences; and (3) testing hypotheses (R. Gorsuch, 1983). While most factor…

Issues regarding confidence and tolerance intervals are discussed within the context of educational measurement. Conceptual distinctions are drawn between these two types of intervals; and examples, under various error and true score models, are used to compare such intervals. It is shown that there tend to be only small differences in tolerance…

Author argued that teachers rather than outside examiners should be responsible for assessing the abilities and achievements of their students. (Editor/RK)

The present research was designed to determine whether performance on the Digit Span (DS) and Digit Symbol (D) subtests of the WAIS is affected by seating arrangement, since such information would be of obvious relevance to users of this test. (Author)

Performance on Inhelder and Piaget's pendulum problem was obtained as a validating measure in a study of the transition from concrete to formal thinking. The sample consisted of 236 children aged from 10 to 14 years. (Editor)

The NEA Task Force on Testing has been studying student testing and evaluation since 1972. Here is what they recommend for teachers, school administrators, and professional associations. (Editor/RK)

This bibliography provides annotations on over 165 testing sources in the collection of the Humboldt State University (California) Library. Focus is on psychological and educational tests. Information resources are grouped according to information need, including sources of tests or information about tests, and by subject. The Library does not…

This paper summarizes the steps that led to the development of new test purchaser qualification forms (TPQFs), with major emphasis on a form for an educational test publisher. Three separate research studies, conducted by the Test User Qualifications Working Group (TUQWG) of the Joint Committee on Testing Practices, constituted the research base…