Guidelines are presented for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania City-Wide Testing Program. They involve the preparation of pupils for the Administration of the tests, preparation of teachers for administering the tests, some acceptable and unacceptable practices, use and dissemination of test results, and security concerns related to the testing…

The implementation of a district-wide testing program requires careful consideration of credibility issues. These issues have been frequently overlooked or treated casually by test developers and users alike. It is well enough to study the reliability and validity issues involved when selecting instrumentation. It is also necessary to identify…

A pretest-posttest design for measuring the effects of educational programs uses comparison groups consisting of pupils like those in the treatment group but not getting that particular treatment. Although the design is geared primarily to evaluation of Title I programs in large cities, it should also apply to other situations. The plan for…

College populations may differ greatly, not only in terms of traditional academic variables such as high school grades and test performances, but also in terms of student interests, values, educational aspirations, occupational plans, and socio-economic background. The recognition of biographic variables as potential predictors of academic success…

Instruments and methods are considered by many the nuts and bolts of school testing programs, for both individuals and groups. Too often, the individual is lost in the machinery of such a school program, and data collected becomes the end product of appraisal and assessment. Programs of student appraisal procedures should be developed around eight…

In reviewing the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) testing procedures, the author notes that the assessment of student achievement and the planning of individualized instructional sequences involve valid and reliable measurement of many of the relevant characteristics of the learner. He criticizes the placement testing procedure as…

The testing sub-program is designed to provide the diagnostic instruments necessary to measure pupil progress through the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) curricula. Its objectives are to provide information about pupils which teachers can use to direct each child's individual learning program, to provide the measurements necessary for…

Although emphatically not against the concept of educational accountability, the National Education Association (NEA) feels that a redirection is needed in the implementation of such a system. Because of error, especially in testing minority and poor children, accountability programs should never use test results as the major source of data but…

In addition to some general and basic principles regarding the importance of an acceptable accountability system, a number of specific criteria for evaluating state accountability programs is provided. The stated purposes of such a system and the specific uses of the resulting data should be clear and concise. Local control must be retained and…

An annotated bibliography of tests for children and parents, compiled by the Technical Assistance Development System, is presented. The bibliography was developed because of the absence of generally recognized and standardized measures of performance appropriate for use in educational programs, particularly programs involving the handicapped. The…

This paper presents a summary of the results for the Washington, D.C., public schools of the Metropolitan Readiness Test for grade 1; of the Reading and Mathematics Tests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills for grades 3 through 9; of the Reading and Mathematics test of the California Achievement Tests for grade 2; plus a summary of the…

Describes Nova Scotia's testing program, which provides for administrators, supervisors, counselors, and teachers: measurement of student achievement; indications of the extent of program success; diagnosis of student needs; opportunities for improving instructional methods; and indications of the desirability or feasibility of modifying…

Florida's accountability program, the result of the Florida Accountability Acts of 1968 and 1976, contains four parts: statewide assessment program, functional literacy testing, compensatory education program, and norm-referred testing, which are discussed in this article. (BB)

This survey of exercise stress testing programs in the United States concludes that the rapid growth and diversity of these services have created a need for increased communication and cooperation among professionals concerning standards relative to procedures, protocols, and personnel. (Author/MJB)

Use of the Rasch model for vertical equating of tests is discussed. Although use of the model is promising, empirical results raise questions about the adequacy of the Rasch model. Latent trait models with more parameters may be necessary. (JKS)