A seven step strategy is presented for selecting a "good" test in an educational setting. The steps are as follows: (1) make the following preliminary decisions: (a) decide why you need to test, (b) decide what you intend to do with the results, (c) decide what practical decisions will be made based on the testing results, and (d) decide who will…

It is commonly proposed that educational and psychological assessments consist of a multifaceted procedure that incorporates scores from a variety of tests and resources. Little guidance has been offered regarding the method for selecting a combination of testing instruments used in an evaluation. The problem of test selection is discussed in the…

Testing has been perceived as a panacea, an elixir for obtaining data on innate human abilities. Since the empirical research and the experience of clinicians has not been fully able to meet this expectation adequately, assessment has been ascribed the quality of having an illusionary nature. Hence, it has been proposed by various factions in the…

With increasing emphasis upon accountability, assessment in general, and communication competency in particular, is placing more demands upon human and financial resources. Therefore, those making the decisions about what and how to assess various factors must make informed, ethical, and responsible decisions. To that end, this paper provides a…

While the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines have many proponents, critics find testing according to the guidelines costly and time-consuming. Winthrop College (South Carolina) has developed an approach to testing foreign language majors that tests all skill areas, can be administered using no…

In a national survey of psychological testing, researchers have suggested that future surveys of test use should report separately for individual settings. The purpose of this investigation was to gauge the status of psychological test usage in a specific type of agency. Outpatient mental health facilities and community clinics in the United…

The paper looks at purposes of educational assessment of children with learning disabilities, assessment of the whole child, the plan for an assessment battery, the nuances of carrying out the assessment, and communication of the results to maximize appropriate follow up. Assessment purposes identified include screening, determining eligibility,…

This study attempts to respond to the suggestions of Stewart and Jones and the criticisms of Sattler and Buckhalt by assessing the precision of the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) in predicting Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores with a population of restricted range (gifted children), and examining the consistency of…

Three areas of concern related to test bias and validity should be considered during the revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests. The first area concerns the sources and consequences of test bias. Five sources of bias have been identified: numerical bias, role bias, status bias, stereotypic bias, and familiarity bias. The…

A model is described that was developed to train future learning disabilities specialists to select and execute diagnostic prescriptive strategies. A series of flowcharts depict the diagnostic-prescriptive model from point of referral, specifying steps for the process in language and readings. The sequence of tasks illustrate critical decisions…

Two kinds of WISC-R short forms, item reduction and subtest reduction, are reviewed in terms of their ability to meet these criteria of adequacy: a significant correlation between the full scale IQ and the short form IQ, a non-significant difference between the full and short form mean IQ, a low percentage of IQ classification changes resulting…

This paper explores problems of construct validity in the evaluation of the Follow Through Planned Variation program. Comments center around political ramifications of the program evaluation design, insufficient knowledge on the part of program planners, the diversity of the experimental options, and the instability of the sample. It is suggested…

Details how England is reworking its secondary school examination system, replacing the GCE and the CSE with one examination system. (CRH)

Choosing an appropriate measure of study skills is a requisite in high-quality educational programming, but the information about such tools is limited. This paper compares selected study skills measures in terms of standard psychometric properties to determine salient features of each measure. Three categories of study skills measures are…

This paper discusses the use of the Internet to enhance test selection, orientation, administration, and scoring. It begins with a review of potential Internet applications in these test areas. Also addressed are difficulties that may be encountered by counselors who use the Internet for testing and issues associated with using the Internet to…