Changes to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that will be introduced in the 1993-94 academic year are reviewed, with attention to edumetric factors such as relationship of curriculum and instructional practice to test design and the impact of the changes. The new SAT will put increased emphasis on critical reading skills to reflect developments…

In 1991-92 Vermont initiated a statewide portfolio assessment program in mathematics and writing in grades 4 and 8. An evaluation of the program found mixed results--although the portfolio scores were unreliable for individual or school-level reporting and teachers had concerns about implementation, the assessment had marked positive effects on…

California has developed a new series of credential examinations for foreign language teachers to make it possible to test the competence of teachers in six languages less frequently taught than Spanish and French. These languages are German, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, and Vietnamese. Each assessment is based on the specifications…

This paper provides a very brief summary of the first three years of study of the court-ordered desegregation effort in St. Louis (Missouri). It examines differences in the reading and mathematics scores from the Stanford Achievement Test along with a performance-based writing assessment for four groups of African-American students. These groups…

Having low literacy skills could impact everything from reading a newspaper and balancing a checkbook to wise consumer decisions and job advancement. This study estimates adult literacy measures for Cuyahoga County, Ohio and its municipalities. It is also important to have a sense of how many children are at risk for developing literacy problems…