The Comprehensive English Regents Exam, also referred to as the English Language Arts (ELA) Examination, is a widely used measure of student achievement in the K-12 system in New York, yet it is not without criticism. One concern is that the ELA Regents Exam may be contributing to the widening of the gap in graduation rates between English…

Over the past few years, students by the thousands have refused to take their state's standardized tests. This "opt-out" phenomenon has prompted debate in state legislatures and in Washington, putting states at risk of losing Title I funds. Advocates describe opt-out as a grassroots movement of parents concerned about overtesting,…

This article offers the author's views about the business aspects of school administration in the U.S., and discusses the mass school closures in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago. These closures were intended to improve the educational systems within those cities, yet none have benefited from these reforms. She also explains the…

Paul Jablon's "The Synergy of Inquiry" (2014) is well-timed. The 2014 deadline set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) for universal student proficiency has come and gone, and according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, "proficiency rates last year were below 50 percent for nearly every racial and ethnic group, in…

Arguments for enjoining enforcement of the New York state law to disclose results of standardized admissions tests to students address these issues: copyright, financial harm to test creators, constitutional protection, and the public interest. Recent court litigation, especially concerning the Medical College Admission Test, is reviewed. (MSE)

The legislative history of legislation concerning disclosure of standardized college admissions test items is reviewed, the effect of existing laws in California and New York is outlined, and public policy and legal questions leading to and resulting from the legislation are discussed. (MSE)

Argues that the results of College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests, nationally recognized, high-quality examinations conventionally used to award college credits, should be included in students' grade point averages. This would provide important information to graduate schools. Regents College (New York) has adopted a procedure for…

Testing and assessment have become extremely important components of the educational program. The purpose of this position paper is to provide factual and policy-related information that may be of use to school boards as they design or improve their districts' testing and assessment policies. It is the New York State policy that school boards…

Costs and benefits of New York's Truth-in-Testing law are reviewed and related to constitutional issues and fairness to test-makers as well as test-takers. Besides matters of cost and test question availability, challenges to the legislation also involve issues of due process, equal protection, and infringement of existing copyright laws. (MSE)

This article will argue that cost-benefit analysis persuasively demonstrates that truth-in-testing laws are socially and economically justified but often fall short of providing a comprehensive regulatory scheme adequate to correct the market dislocations generated by an unregulated testing industry. (Author)

Arguments for and against disclosure of standardized test contents and answers, addressing issues of humanizing the testing process, equalizing educational opportunity, ensuring accountability, minimizing costs, ensuring fairness, and protecting test validity, are presented. (MSE)

The four position statements included in this occasional paper are the products of a conference involving the New York State Association of Teacher Educators and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education--New York State, on "Who Will Be the Teachers of the Future.""Entry Level Testing in New York State,"…