This paper describes the approaches taken at a middle school to improve student problem solving ability and test results for the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) mathematics tests. The focus was on grade 6. In 1996, 35% of the 437 students in grade 6 did not master the mathematics problem solving skill. A committee of…

This study investigated school-level benefits of using the PLAN program over time. Outcome variables included the average gain in ACT Assessment scores, the proportion of students whose ACT scores achieved college readiness benchmarks, and the proportion of students who took particular patterns of college preparatory coursework in high school.…

The roots of the American testing movement lie deeply imbedded in the American progressive temper which combined its belief in progress, its racial attitudes and its faith in the scientific-expert working through the state authority to ameliorate and control the evolutionary progress of the race. (Author)

It is suggested that funders revise the manner in which accountability is determined regarding both program superiority and the way in which special school programs are evaluated. In any alternative mode of showing accountability, preoccupation with dollars and amount learned should not take precedence over humaneness in the classroom. (Author)

Through a retrospective study, the methods of investigative journalism are analyzed as they are applied to a statewide evaluation of student achievement and to a local school evaluation of new student registration procedures. The benefits and shortcomings of the journalistic approach are illustrated. (Author/AL)

Teachers are practically unanimous in their opinion that the benefits derived from a mandated testing program are less than the costs in teacher/pupil time and money, the same information might be obtained from fewer tests, and teacher evaluations are more accurate than mandated tests in assessing pupils' abilities. (Author/CM)

The history of the Oxford Local Examinations is discussed beginning with the first examination in 1856 and including the advent of the General Certificate of Education examination in the late 1940s. (SA)

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

The author examines four testing alternatives for minority group children who consistently do poorly on standardized tests: off-grade-level testing; not testing minority children at all; changing to an easier test; and criterion-referenced testing. He favors the last alternative. (SJL)

The results of a school district's move to proficiency testing in mathematics are described and discussed. (MK)

The "Needs and Characteristics Study of French-Speaking Students in the Ontario Educational System," concentrates on the educational competence of these students in mathematics, social science, French as mother tongue, and English as a second language, with the objective of improving francophone education at the secondary level. In…

Examination of the history of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) program and the College Board can inform the current debate about testing by shedding light on admission and access issues that have been addressed by the program over the years. It has strived to balance consistency with the flexibility to adapt testing to new knowledge about…