The Joint Committee on Testing Practices (JCTP) is a coordinating body sponsored by professional organizations and test publishers that seeks to advance the quality of testing practices and insure the rights of test takers. The JCTP has issued a code, reprinted here, advocating fairness in test construction, selection, and interpretation. (AF)

A study of 36 first-year Northwestern University (Illinois) medical residents found that students' medical knowledge was a predictor of increased laboratory test use, that clinical judgment was a predictor of decreased laboratory use, and that level of caring was statistically unrelated to amount of laboratory use. (Author/MSE)

The nature of admissions tests and their intended uses are reviewed. Evidence regarding the validity of tests, their contributions to admissions decisions, the effects of coaching, and possible bias in the predictive meaning of test scores for women and minorities are discussed. (Author/SLD)

Uses the home-education policy arena as a lens through which to view changing beliefs and practices about student assessment. The home-education policies of 10 states illustrate issues relating to accountability in public and private schools and the use of standardized tests. (SLD)

Presents data that establish the convergent and discriminant construct validity of a new behavior-rating scale for use with the early childhood-preschool population, the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS). The scale appears to show promise as a research tool, screening device, and assessment instrument for assessing social-emotional…

The Test of Reactions and Adaptation in College (TRAC), a measure of students' personal dispositions toward learning, is presented. Results from 2 different samples of college students (n=1,081) indicate acceptable psychometric characteristics for the TRAC. The TRAC predicted college success better than high school weighted academic average did.…

A broad description is given of admissions procedures to Israeli universities. In Israel, a single unified test, the Psychometric Entrance Test, is used for admission to the various universities. Issues of validity and reliability and problems of ensuring fairness for non-Hebrew speakers are considered. (SLD)

Argues that, no matter how good and well-intentioned new curriculum and assessment reforms are, they will fail unless there are real-world consequences that motivate students to work hard in school. Educational systems fail because what students want, i.e., college admissions, jobs, and job training, are disconnected from school work. (GLR)

The seven chapters of this issue focus on technical qualities of performance assessments and report the findings of systematic empirical inquiries. They add to the body of research that shows that performance assessment, although time consuming and expensive, merits the serious attention of educators. (SLD)

The most fundamental technical quality issue raised by proposals for a national examination system is that of validity. Types of evidence needed to judge the validity of test use and the interpretation of results are discussed, and examination content, fairness, impact, generalizability, and comparability are explored. (SLD)

The multivariate generalizability of the Role Functioning Scale (RFS), which serves as a replacement for the global ratings of the Social Adjustment Scale, was studied with 396 severely disturbed clients of a public mental-health bureau. Generalizability of single subscales was less than that of the combined subscales. (SLD)

Argues that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and its corporate sponsors discriminate against black students because the awards are based primarily on standardized test scores and that the separate program for African American students stigmatizes and insults them in a program that recalls the era of separate but equal. (SLD)

Researchers investigated the effects of frequent classroom testing on students, examining studies on adjunct questions and on mastery testing. Meta-analysis of 40 studies indicated students who took at least 1 test over 15 weeks scored one-half of a standard deviation higher on criterion examinations than did students who took no tests. (SM)

Implications of using alternative assessments for accountability in a high-stakes testing environment (using tests to make impact decisions for students, schools, or teachers) are examined. The psychometric properties of standardized alternative assessments are discussed, and the consequences of their use are considered. (SLD)

Using age norms in the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability-Revised assessments of reading ability can distort the diagnosis of reading difficulty, as evidenced in the assessment practices of the New South Wales (Australia) Department of Education. Grade-normative data (year-level norms) and abandoning the reporting of precise reading scores are…