Standardized tests can be a valuable part of a value-added assessment package which attempts to determine what students gain from the college experience in general, and from communications courses in particular. The critical issues concerning assessment center around who will evaluate what skills and values with which instruments. Within the…

Argues that IQ tests work only for some people some of the time. Offers a theory that emphasizes the roles in intelligence of information-processing, the environmental context, and coping with novelty and automatization of task performance, as a possibility for improving levels of prediction. (CMG)

An extensive review of literature related to the role of standardized tests in the assessment of young children was conducted, and recommendations were made for alternative approaches more appropriate to the assessment of young children. The first section of the paper contains a literature review that provides a brief history of standardized tests…

Standardized testing is here to stay. Critics are serving a useful purpose in that they force users to examine benefits and the drawbacks. This process has an inevitable spinoff effect since almost every user of standardized tests is involved in a classroom situation where informal testing is ongoing. (Author)

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

Recent international education reports have highlighted some of the progress (as well as remaining disparity) in gendered education enrollment rates. But, the problem of gender segregation is still a very real issue even in some nations where girls are enrolled at levels on par with boys. Separate classes, curricula, and in many countries separate…

Intended for school psychologists, the paper discusses current approaches to instrumentation in the standardized psychological schools. A framework is presented for the classification of assessment instruments, and examples of some currently employed instruments are provided along with a comparative analysis. Problems identified with existing…

The concept of overlap between instruction and assessment is defined. The influence of tests on teaching and the teacher as curricular content decision maker is described. A model of how awareness of this overlap can move curriculum practice into alignment with an assessment system is presented. (Author/MT)

The article reviews Consumer's Guide to Tests in Print, noting its purposes (to provide objective information about technical characteristics of standardized tests); criteria for evaluating standardizaton, reliability, and validity; and its rating system based on evaluations of selected review panel members. (CL)

The term "technology" often conjures up visions of scientific experiments and industrial processes, but technology is also a tool, something put together to satisfy a need, solve a problem, or attain a goal in social, economic, and educational institutions. In a broader sense, technology is any body of special knowledge, skills, and procedures,…

Various approaches to research about reading disablities are described in historical perspective. The development of reading diagnosis is discussed in terms of: (1) a shift from a medical to an educational concern; (2) the use of standardized tests; (3) the movement in diagnosis from psychological laboratories to the classroom; and (4) the use of…

Today, many classroom teachers are busy preparing for standardized tests. The No Child Left Behind Act encourages such behavior. Little time is left to devote to subjects that previously were considered a vital part of the curriculum, such as social studies, physical education, art, and music. Needless to say, if these subjects have taken a back…

Using a nationally representative sample from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, this research examines the longitudinal effects of race and socioeconomic status on 12th-grade educational achievement and achievement 2 years after high school. For 12th-grade outcomes, the authors found no statistical difference in scores between Hispanic…

The fact sheet focuses on considerations when testing adaptations are needed, provides some facts about disability, and identifies a variety of adaptations of testing procedures which have been developed and successfully used in schools, vocational training programs, and on college campuses. Testing adaptations are discussed in terms of disability…

This presentation is a review of the literature on the assessment of standardized test scores in black colleges. Divergent points of view exist relative to the misuse and use of standardized test scores for the sole purpose of admission of black students. Some misuses of the American College Test (ACT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are noted,…