The Advisory Committee on Testing in Chapter 1 evaluated current testing policies in the Chapter 1 program and offered the U.S. Department of Education advice on improvements and alternatives to the current system. After analyzing existing testing procedures, the committee concluded that Chapter 1's overreliance on a single testing method,…

Claims that national tests will improve student learning are explored, asking whether national examinations will ensure high-quality instruction and greater student learning and whether tests developed to meet urgent political deadlines will retain essential features of authentic curriculum-driven assessments. Part I presents research evidence on…

A study compared teachers' assessments of students based on alternative evaluation techniques to student assessments based on standardized tests. Teachers in seven kindergarten classrooms evaluated their students (approximately 130 each year) in each of 3 successive years according to how well they had mastered a set of criteria which the teachers…

This set of curriculum-based assessment instruments is designed to measure the career education knowledge and skills of regular and special education students, as part of the Life Centered Career Education Program, a field-tested curriculum to develop competencies in daily living skills, personal-social skills, and occupational guidance and…

A project was conducted to develop and implement a comprehensive assessment system in existing adult education programs. Weekly site visits were made to four programs as follows: a segment of a large adult program offering literacy, General Educational Development (GED), and specialized technical courses; a small community-based program with…

This book supports constructive discussion about assessment and provides concrete directions for change. The 10 chapters outline many of the difficulties associated with current standardized testing. While most educators refer to the new non-standardized test efforts as alternative assessments, this type of assessment is increasingly being called…

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) established a Task Force on Student Assessment in the spring of 1990, which was designed to: review available information on testing principles and practices; make recommendations for reform of testing; and communicate its findings to NYSUT members. Ten recommendations were made, centering on the necessity…

The intent of this chapter is to emphasize the student evaluation aspect over other legal principles. Several cases illustrate that courts will interfere with school boards' authority to determine placement of pupils only when a violation of constitutional or statutory rights of a student occurs. In the matter of sanctions against students that…

A state-mandated outcomes assessment test for certification of teachers has been administered in Texas since 1986. At Southwest Texas State University, which produces the most certified teachers in the state, the assessment showed that its students were not also among the best. In response to this situation, a presidential committee conducted…

The workshop examines testing approaches for use with bilingual or limited English speaking students in determining eligibility and need for special services. The workshop covers the following areas: (1) an overall process for deciding whether a student may be in need of special services; (2) ways to alleviate or avoid problems which may impact on…

A study compares the quantity, quality, and personal characteristics of teacher education candidates for the 1982-83 school year with the teacher education candidates for the 1971-72 and 1972-73 school years. Subjects included students of secondary education at Indiana State University (ISU) who had applied to student teach. Data for the study…

Aspects of American education that have particular importance to student exchange programs are discussed in order to assist non-Americans. In addition to philosophical assumptions underlying American education, attention is directed to organization and control, different kinds of institutions and programs, methods of measuring student performance,…

An educational testing program at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), developed for juniors entering its school of education, evaluates their characteristics, the nature and extent of subject matter weaknesses, the need for and nature of remediation, and the relation of subject matter and basic skill achievement to success in methods…

The feasibility of standardized assessment of features of children's organization of knowledge and the demonstration of differences in organization between stages of development were investigated. It was possible to standardize developmentally derived instruments, in the same way as empirically derived tests because such evaluations concern the…

The final report adresses the problems involved in identifying gifted minority children. Reviewed is the historical perspective of cross cultural assessment in behavioral research. Typical gross errors and misinterpretations of data in cross cultural assessment are pointed out. Among fundamental considerations listed include the use of items…