This document sets forth detailed curriculum objectives and an associated three-phase promotion testing program for grades 3, 6, and 8 for public schools in the state of North Carolina. The program was administered for the first time in 1986. The 1987 testing program began with administration of the California Achievement Tests (CAT). Students…

In response to a legislative mandate, this report assesses the validity of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and offers recommendations for increasing the passing rate of students. Section I summarizes the Florida State Legislature's interest and intent in establishing CLAST an achievement test--measuring skills in computation,…

This booklet interprets and summarizes the results of the Connecticut Statewide Basic Skills Proficiency Test as administered to ninth graders in October, 1986. The test measures basic skills in reading and mathematics, and basic writing skills in the language arts. The test is used to identify students who require further remediation in order to…

Standardized achievement tests are often misused as indicators of a school's quality or effectiveness relative to other schools. This is an incorrect use because it ignores variation among schools in student abilities, family support of education, student mobility, and other factors. People also misuse tests because they impute to them more…

This handbook, in two parts, constitutes a manual prepared by the American Federation of Teachers, for improving teachers' use of standardized tests. Part I outlines basic concepts and issues surrounding standardized testing for teachers, parents and school administrators. The terms norm-referenced tests, criterion referenced tests, minimum…

Past research on the effects of Minimum Competency Tests (MCT) on teaching and learning is reviewed, and the large database of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is used to shed more light on these effects. There seems to be little doubt that MCT, together with associated changes in instructional methods, has produced some…

In 1990, a study was conducted to compare the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) passing rates of St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) students with those of other Florida community college students and students from state universities. The SPJC samples consisted of 756 students who took the CLAST for the first time in October 1989 and…

This paper contains a comparison of descriptive information based on analyses of pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The test is composed of three subject tests: Reading, Mathematics, and Language. The study was intended to validate the test development procedure by comparing difficulty levels…

This guide describes the background of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) program, objectives, and tests. It is designed to assist school personnel in reading and comprehending the student information contained in student performance data included in TABS reports. TABS is a criterion-referenced measure for assessment of student…

Focusing on formal testing programs involving academic achievement, the assessment of student performance in 28 large city school districts is described. In addition to presenting how districts have designed testing programs to meet the variety in the students they serve, this report also discussed test management, work with test publishers, test…

The Dallas (Texas) Independent School District has developed an assessment system that is fully integrated into its learning system, which also includes planning, instruction, and accountability. This paper describes the learning system in Dallas in terms of a four-part model: planning, instruction, assessment, and accountability. Following this,…

The New Jersey Educational Assessment Program was initiated in l972-73 school year to assess high school students' performance in the basic skill areas of reading and mathematics. The High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) will become part of the graduation requirement for the ninth grade class of 1985-86. This instrument is a more comprehensive…

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was designed to provide information on the extent to which Michigan students have attained minimal performance objectives. This manual was written to help local Michigan school district staff read, interpret, and use MEAP data. The 1977-78 MEAP provided objective-referenced achievement measures in…

Student test scores are increasingly used to judge the competence of the educational enterprise. Exaggeration of scores is the result of directing attention away from the individual student achievement to the average scores of schools, districts, and states. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (BJV)

This report presents the performance for school district categories and for individual school districts on the third grade Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) test. The Grade 3 criterion-referenced test contained three sections: mathematics, reading, and writing. Testing was conducted during February 1986. The report is in two…