The preceding article by Robert Sternberg implicitly accepts the idea that there is a single human potential called "intelligence" that is scientifically measurable. Human beings do not possess any such generalized intelligence, however. Instead, each person possesses a mix of several basic intellectual competencies or…

The decline in test scores is more reflective of social changes than of educational failure. (IRT)

Presents new evidence to show that nuclear radiation is associated with impaired cognitive functions. Links changing levels of radiation from U.S. nuclear bomb testing to the long decline--and now the beginnings of a rise--in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. (Author/RW)

A pilot project in 20 Oklahoma public schools during the 1980-81 school year indicated that algebra can be mastered by students of average ability if the material is presented in increments and sufficient time is allotted for understanding to occur. (Author/WD)

Although a constructivist approach to learning calls into question the adequacy of norm-referenced, multiple-choice tests, these tests will persist into the 21st century. This article describes a classroom-based study that helped collaboratively oriented fifth graders develop problem-solving strategies to select answers to test questions. This…

Three former secretaries of education--William Bennett, Lauro Cavazos, and Terrel Bell--have touted state-level SAT scores as proof that educational financing does not matter. Recently, Brian Powell and Lala Carr Steelman adjusted scores for participation rate and detected a very strong relationship between expenditures and SAT scores. Bigger…

Twenty-fourth annual Gallup/Phi Delta Kappan education poll shows public that wants improved public schools despite elected leaders' failed improvement efforts. Survey respondents perceive biggest problems facing schools are inadequate financial support, drug use, lack of discipline. They support national standardized tests, preschool programs for…

For all its attractiveness, alternative assessment is fraught with complications and difficulties, as Rhode Island's experience shows. Although alternative assessment can be systematic, there are no ways to rate large numbers of performance-based tasks, portfolios, interviews, exhibits, or essays. Some standardization is necessary, and assessment…

Inquiry-based teaching and assessment approaches are superior to standardized tests for measuring students' progress. Historical thinking skills employed in Leopold von Ranke's 19th-century seminars have been refined to consider point of view, credibility of evidence, historical context, causality, and multiple perspectives--benchmarks of…

Prospects for reforming assessment are dim. Persistence of the "education crisis" is chiefly attributable to the testing industry's profit margins and its distrust of teachers--a ploy to preserve the educational power structure. Schools should be accountable to local communities, not corporate entities, as a Nebraska initiative shows.…

The increasing use of test results as a mechanism of educational reform is diminishing local control of schools and changing the curriculum to train students to pass tests rather than to educate students. (MLF)

Steps can be taken in the areas of curriculum, testing, and tracking to raise educational standards for all students. Specifically, local and state authorities should cooperate to tighten course requirements, tie standardized examinations to the curriculum, and institute a demanding common curriculum in the years before high school tracking. (MJL)

Observing that an undesirable byproduct of competency testing for teacher certification has been a nationwide decrease in the number of Blacks entering teaching, this article analyzes Louisiana data on race of National Teacher Examinations takers and declining percentages of Blacks entering the profession. (MJL)

Uses data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress to argue that achievement growth in reading, mathematics, and science is possibly constrained by the (declining) growth and distribution of general intelligence. The failure of school practices to boost general intelligence would explain the disappointing effects of school reform…

Two key assumptions of conventional test design--the compartmentalization of knowledge and the decontextualization of knowing--are false. Because competent performance requires both context and judgment, it is senseless to test for mastery as an unvarying response to unambiguous stimuli. Test-makers must link their tests to the tasks, contexts,…