Reviews development of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and describes its current status. A central issue is deciding exactly what to assess in each school subject at each grade level. Currently, NAEP is a low-stakes test with questionable policy relevance. Other problems surround NAEP proficiency scale interpretations and…

Describes one school district's approach to improving student achievement on standardized tests. Increased scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test have not been the only positive result of this systemwide effort. Students and parents, for example, have become more conscientious about their course seletions. (CJH)

Examines and rejects nine reasons given by educators for opposing externally designed tests. Suggests a tenth, unvoiced reason that may be the most valid: that testing may reveal deficiencies in the school's educational program. (PGD)

Presuming that test scores can accurately reflect educational quality is naive and potentially dangerous. Sophisticated statistical procedures cannot fully separate the effects of confounding background variables (ethnicity, language proficiency, or poverty) from test scores. A broad-based assessment model relying on multiple indices and…

A recent study analyzing 6,942 items from the Stanford achievement batteries determined that few general cognitive operations were included in the items analyzed. The general cognitive operations that were found had little to do with the items' difficulty. Students are not being taught certain necessary, but untested, cognitive skills. Includes 23…

Regardless of how many times people are told by the Educational Testing Service not to use the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) as a gross measure of school productivity, the test continues to be used for that purpose. This article shows how misleading SAT scores and per-student-expenditure correlations are used to justify spending less money on…

Teachers concerned about excessive testing may be depriving themselves of useful information provided by standardized achievement tests and their own exams. Teachers tend to separate testing from teaching. This article explores the relationship among data collection, curriculum planning, and instruction and gauges the impacts of mandated…

Principals should urge teachers to teach students the five basic principles of test taking. This can improve student scores on standardized tests. (MD)

Describes the plan used in Consolidated High School District 230, in Palos Hills (Illinois), for fostering an informed and interested school community by providing standardized test results to the school board, central and building administrators, parents, teachers, counselors, elementary educators, and the local press. (PGD)

If used effectively, portfolios can be both an assessment tool and an integral part of instruction, while overcoming some attendant standardized-testing problems. New reading, writing, and mathematics assessment standards focus on student learning, reflection and critical inquiry, and integration of literacy skills with students' home, school, and…

Accountability systems are designed to heighten probability of student exposure to good instructional practice, reduce the likelihood of harmful practices, and provide internal self-correctives. The Chapter 1 accountability system fails to meet these objectives, as it lacks timely self-correction information, credible tests, and linkages among…

Briefly outlines the historical dimensions of the influence of colleges on secondary schools. Presents seven lessons learned from the transcript study. Asserts that current educational reform must involve both secondary and postsecondary levels in tandem. (MD)

Summarizes the data on math and science preparation and the results of the ACT Mathematics and Science Reasoning test for the nation's public high school graduating class of 1994. Highlights how the probability of student success in university science and math courses is affected. A rigorous high school program remains a significant precondition…

Tests producing results that are used to make important decisions about students, schools, and curricula should not be developed locally by teachers. Although district educators at all levels need to become familiar with measurement nuances, the development of high stakes tests is best left to measurement professionals. Includes four references.…

Asserts that failure to consider carefully the purposes and uses to which standardized tests are put can place barriers in the way of equal educational opportunities for minority students. Proposes six precautions for ensuring that standardized tests can be used without endangering equal educational opportunities. (PGD)