Although teachers have little voice in textbook selection or standardized test content, they still retain most powerful influence on students' learning and can serve as curriculum leaders. Past approachers have defined curriculum development as authoritarian administrative process and have regarded teachers as implementors. Teachers can prevail by…

Students who are prepared for tests (possessing content knowledge, test-taking strategies, and effective study plans) perform better in test situations than unprepared or unskilled students. This article presents strategies teachers can use to help students develop test-taking skills and discusses differences between the Scholastic Aptitude Test…

Examines the new state-mandated high school graduation tests emerging in response to perceived declines in educational standards. Indicates general consequences for implementing these tests, including public perceptions based on a "box score" mentality. As competency measures, the tests have had little impact on pupils, teachers,…

Many educators have been too quick to use traditional statistical data as measures of school effectiveness. Instead, educators should develop means of understanding and communicating to the public measures of social variables that operate in effective schools. (JW)

Predicts that the availability of computers and demands for competency testing could drastically alter the character and uses of standardized testing by the end of the century. Warns administrators to begin preparing for the future in order to prevent misuse of the new computer capabilities. (PGD)

Offers strategies for improving student scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Covers three areas: improvement in instructional quality in high schools; analysis and refinement of opportunities for students to demonstrate and practice test-taking skills; and enhancement of understanding and support among parents, community, and staff. (PGD)

Examines the extent and nature of America's need to know whether the nation's educational outlook is improving, considers the contributions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the National Assessment of Educational Progress to the information effort, and proposes a more effective testing system to be administered by the Census Bureau. (PGD)

Critiques college admission requirements, pointing out that entrance tests determine what is taught in high school curriculum. For testing to be effective, colleges and high schools must specify the content of college preparatory curriculum. (MD)

Because of lack of research and too much political gamesmanship, accountability's great promise may never be realized, say the authors. (Editor)

Standardized tests are not sufficient to measure the full area of school effectiveness because they encourage the rating of students on a narrow range of capabilities, the emphasis of only one set of educational goals, and the use of a uniform set of teaching methods. (JW)

Current concepts of performance assessment are very promising, partly because they are consistent with approved curriculum practice. The contemporary rationale for performance assessment has been largely uninformed by past ideas and practices. Overreliance on standardized test scores prevails, despite the midcentury core curriculum movement and…

A school and community must state their goals for students and then, avoiding the use of commerical tests, design a means of evaluation to determine if those goals have been met. (Author/JM)

A study of 358 students at a western middle school examined academic, general, home, and social variables. Regarding self-esteem, girls viewed themselves more positively than boys in social experiences. Low achievers were not as satisfied with school facilities as high- and middle-achievers. (MLH)

The effect of block scheduling on high school student achievement in mathematics and reading was investigated in this study through the use of an ex post-facto, longitudinal research design. Specifically, student scores from 9th and 11th-grade standardized tests were matched and sorted by junior high and high school attended. Outcome measures…

External assessments for accountability may be taking precedence over other educational assessment purposes and are beginning to direct teaching and learning in schools. Four common concerns include teaching to the tests, narrowing instructional focus and allowing tests to determine curricula, deemphasizing higher order thinking skills, and…