Assessment can be one of the most difficult aspects of teaching. The educational, emotional, and formative ramifications of judging a young person's work can weigh heavily on the mind of a teacher. In spite of the anxiety it poses, knowing how to assess students in order to improve instruction is a core principle of effective teaching. This…

In the context of reviewing an article for this journal (van der Linden & Sotaridona, this issue, pp. 283-304) the topic of unconditional and conditional hypothesis testing came under consideration. While this is hardly a new issue (consider, for example, arguments regarding the chi square vs. Fisher exact test of independence for a 2 x 2…

The Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC) is a policy center of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. AMEPAC's mission is to stimulate, through studies, statewide discussion, and debate, constructive improvement of Arizona minority students' early awareness, access, and achievement throughout the educational…

The purposes of this study were to (a) identify how leadership in a successful rural school districts has helped raise student achievement levels beyond those of comparable school districts as measured by state and federal mandated test scores, (b) investigate the district leadership that aligns with identified effective practices, and (c)…

This qualitative, longitudinal study documents the academic and professional journeys of 8 college graduates or "scholars" of the Paterson Teachers for Tomorrow (PT4T) program. Data from this study further contribute to the growing body of research focusing on preparing diverse candidates--particularly those from urban and low…

Author looks into the workings of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. (Editor/RK)

Article suggested that students must learn through experience to think for themselves and that the College Level Examination Program cannot substitute for that experience. (RK)

This digest discusses the integration of teaching and testing. The use of tests as instructional tools and administrative tools is discussed as well as teacher and administrator attitudes toward testing and teacher competency in interpreting test results. The term "tests" covers standardized tests of achievement and aptitude, less formal…

This 126-item test, the Learning Style Profile, was designed to assess 23 scales involving learners' cognitive skills, as well as emotional and environmental study preferences such as noise and temperature. It contains both verbal and pictorial items. The test was designed for sixth- through twelfth-grade students and has a readability level…

An annotated list of 11 books, guides, and online information retrieval systems that describe available standardized aptitude and achievement tests, test reviews, databases, and other sources of testing information is provided. The list is designed to help in the identification of useful standardized tests. (TJH)

Stability of performance on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (S-B:4) over a 1-year interval was examined with a sample of 28 nonhandicapped preschoolers. Each child was administered both tests in counterbalanced order and retested in 1 year with either the K-ABC or the…

Careful management of a testing program can greatly limit a teacher's opportunity to cheat while administering standardized tests to students and can increase the likelihood that such cheating will be detected. The Austin Independent School District's systemwide testing staff's plan for controlling cheating has three basic premises: (1) plan and…

Discusses many factors involved in determining the complex nature of a child's knowledge base. Includes three kinds of considerations: 1) task-oriented criteria; 2) motivational elements; and 3) the relationship between personality and performance. (Author/CS)

Discusses the criterion referenced test and focuses on such questions as What is it? What are the advantages to be gained from a performance-based curriculum and criterion reference evaluation procedures? What are the disadvantages? The Science - A Process Approach program is identified as the most complete and tested example of the use of…

The National Education Association's (NEA) resolutions concerning standardized tests, teacher evaluation and subjective ratings, national testing and assessment, student rights, and the improvement of instruction are presented in this interim report of the Task Force on Testing. The NEA strongly encourages the elimination of group standardized…