This paper summarizes a report designed to provide the National Science Board Commission with information about recent advances in cognitive/behavioral science relevant to mathematics, science, and technology education, as well as prospective contributions from these fields if adequate levels of support are available. Following a summary…

The major purpose of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is to provide information useful for improving the quality of American elementary and secondary schools. NAEP has focused more on the measurement of academic achievement than on the need for information on learning contexts. Additional information is needed about why…

This paper outlines how the Austin Independent School District (Texas) tried to deal with the following questions: (1) Should special education students be included in the administration of standardized tests?; (2) Should their scores be included or excluded in the reporting of test results?; and (3) What are the evidences that test scores reflect…

Two approaches to testing student achievement are discussed: (1) traditional standardized tests; and (2) testing achievement on an instructional unit. Content validity is a major problem with standardized achievement tests. Even though test publishers typically consider a number of curriculum guides and textbooks in producing a test which is…

This three-part concept paper was the result of a colloquium, during which 35 community college educators met in Traverse City, Michigan, to discuss issues related to access, assessment, and developmental education and to develop concept papers and recommendations for each topic. First, introductory material describes the colloquium and its…

The Survey of Special Test Administrations was administered to people with disabilities concerning their responses to special testing accommodations, both for college testing and for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). The questionnaires were developed to evaluate testing accommodations for disabled people…

In the Illinois public community colleges, disadvantaged student grant funds are allocated by formula, with each eligible college receiving a basic grant of $20,000, and the remaining appropriation distributed to each district based on the number of credit hours produced in the remedial and adult basic and secondary education funding categories…

Assessment of the College-Level Academic Skills Test Project (CLAST) at Florida colleges and universities is discussed. Included is an overview of the role of placement testing for entering freshmen and the questions that should be answered regarding the effectiveness of current entry testing and course placement practices. Information is included…

The Value Added Program for assessing undergraduate education at Northeast Missouri State University is described. The program is in its 12th year and has as its driving force a comprehensive student data base that includes measures of individual student performance at the entering freshman level and at the end of the sophomore year, as well as…

This document consists of volumes 1-9 of the Mathematics Association of America's (MAA) Placement Test Program Newsletter. The MAA is the professional association primarily concerned with undergraduate education in mathematics. It has responded to the increasingly difficult problem of placing freshmen students in mathematics courses by developing…

New developments in testing in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1965 are described. Standardized testing at the local level declined dramatically with the widespread introduction of comprehensive secondary education. However, in the late 1970's widespread local testing programs were re-introduced for the purposes of monitoring student progress,…

This description of the student outcomes assessment programs at community and junior colleges in Missouri provides an overview of the programs, a summary of the position of the Missouri Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) on assessment, and brief reports on the assessment programs of MACJC members. After introductory comments…

This book focuses on the education commission and its policy recommendations and provides an evaluation of policies on teachers and teaching, equity, and uses of educational testing to assess the effects of reform. The volume examines both equity and excellence in American education. After an introductory chapter providing an overview of the…

A survey of testing practices at two-year colleges was conducted by the American College Testing Program (ACT) and the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges (AACJC) to gather information about the use of tests in admissions, placement, and program completion. A questionnaire was distributed to 1,303 two-year institutions,…

An action conference on issues related to community college student success was held in May 1986 to stimulate and share ideas related to access, assessment, and intervention that would better ensure student success. The reports and working notes of the small groups assigned to examine these topics were used to create this summary document.…