Many British students with severe learning difficulties cannot realistically be expected to complete Level 1 requirements of the National Curriculum. These students remain marooned on Level 1 and become failures through continual comparison with higher achieving peers. They should be offered appropriate non-National Curriculum programs of study…

Maintains that California teachers are now responsible for preparing students for the new California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) test. Discusses the multiple choice, written response, primary source, and essay writing sections of the test. Provides suggestions for scoring essays and having students evaluate each other's writing. (CFR)

A University of Western Australia market segmentation study for the masters program in business administration examined the relationship between Graduate Management Admission Test scores, work experience, faculty of undergraduate degree, gender, and academic success in the program. Implications of the results for establishing admission criteria…

A resource is presented for those who work in bilingual education and who are involved in test selection. Initial information is provided regarding tests that might be used for student identification, placement and diagnosis, progress monitoring, exiting decisions, and program evaluation purposes. No endorsement or recommendation is implied and no…

A genuine concern for the condition of education in the United States has led to misuse of standardized tests to measure teacher quality. The tests have been used for purposes of admission, advancement, merit, graduation, and certification contrary to research findings and test developer guidelines. The current use of tests has resulted in…

Designed to assist community college practitioners in understanding and utilizing standardized test results for making instructional, guidance, and administrative decisions, this three-part guidebook examines the uses of test results, the evaluation of standardized tests, and procedures for interpreting test scores. Section I discusses the…

Covering the most important aspects of assessing adult basic readers, this collection of articles is introduced by a discussion of the purpose of resource books for adult education. The first article then examines the rationale for assessing reading ability and stresses the importance of purpose and design in assessment. The second article reviews…

Adult literacy programs need reliable information about program quality and effectiveness for accountability, improvement of practice, and expansion of knowledge. Evaluation and assessment reflect fundamental beliefs about adult learners, concepts of literacy, and educational settings. Resources for planning program evaluations include surveys,…

Suggestions for students, parents, and teachers on how to prepare students to take standardized tests are presented. The value of deliberate efforts to teach students test-taking skills is supported by research. Activities to prepare students include the following: (1) teachers should develop some of their tests and worksheets in formats similar…

Classroom-based measures, including self-developed tests and tests provided with instructional materials, aid teachers far more than standardized tests. Yet administrators, researchers, and teacher educators emphasize the latter to the detriment of education. New research and training emphases, greater public awareness, and a resultant…

In 1987, Toronto Board of Education mandated the development of standards, called "benchmarks," for students' achievement in mathematics and language at the end of grades 3, 6, 8, and 10. The development and testing of benchmarks stressing higher-order thinking, problem solving, and the use of experiential approaches and manipulative…

Classroom activities and materials for developing Spanish language skills are described. The exercises focus on listening comprehension, speaking, word recognition, vocabulary learning through reading, and grammar skills that prepare students for the National Spanish Examination and other language experiences. (Author/MSE)

A multistation clinical examination using standardized patients was used over 4 years to assess the interpersonal skills of 346 fourth year medical students, 51 internal medicine residents, and 71 foreign medical graduates seeking admission to graduate study. Results indicate that a reliable assessment of interpersonal skills can be achieved this…

This paper examines: (1) what those who directly employ and educate America's students after they leave high school think of the quality of the U.S. elementary and secondary schools; (2) what recent students and their parents think of the quality of the education they or their children received; and (3) what a cross section of Americans think…

This administrator's summary describes the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP). The TAP battery is designed to provide information about the strengths and weaknesses of the instructional program and about skills performance of individual students in grades 9 through 12. The TAP may be administered at the year's beginning, middle, or end;…