This small-scale qualitative study considers feedback and results reported for two major large-scale English language tests administered in Japan: the Global Test of English Communication for Students (GTECfS) and the Eiken Test in Practical English Proficiency (Eiken). Specifically, it examines current score-reporting practices in student and…

In England, the "Every Child Matters" (ECM) initiative has driven important changes in educational services in order to support five key outcomes for children and young people identified by the ECM initiative, namely to "be healthy", to "stay safe", to "enjoy and achieve", to "make a positive…

Increasing student interest and motivation caused an improvement of standardized test scores. In a Pennsylvania town interest in school was stimulated by a program of high-interest activities in a high school and a junior high school. (LS)

Principals should urge teachers to teach students the five basic principles of test taking. This can improve student scores on standardized tests. (MD)

Author feels that declining sAT scores are due in large part to a lack of student reading and experiencing books. (GE)

Author Lyn Lesch advocates that learning cannot be measured by empirical results like testing and grading. As the founder of Chicago's The Children's School, Lesch didn't give grades or submit students to standardized testing. Such conditions may seem blasphemous to most educators, but the results spoke for themselves. Without the high-stakes…

Article presented a true story of how two cities ran testing programs and the lessons that can be learned from their failures. (Editor/RK)

Based on in-depth data from nine demographically similar schools, the study asks five questions in regard to key aspects of the improvement process and that speak to the consequential validity of accountability indicators: Do schools that differ widely according to system performance criteria also differ on the quality of the educational…

The 1970-71 standardized test data for grades three, six, nine and eleven in West Virginia are summarized. The report is presented in four major sections, one each for the grades tested, with analytical information using State, county and school norm groups. Each group division has illustrated an analysis of the following data: (1) a statewide…

Since 1967, the Utah State Office of Education has compiled and reported pertinent information concerning statewide student performance. This report, the sixth in the "How Good Are Utah Public Schools?" series, summarizes results from a variety of ongoing and special studies. Since 1975, statewide assessment programs have encompassed…

For nearly 20 years, Utah's Office of Education has been systematically monitoring the academic performance and other characteristics of Utah's students. This executive summary, an overview of the sixth major report since 1967, examines several measures describing educational quality in Utah schools. The first section covers students' achievement…

The distinctiveness of affects associated with different school subjects was studied with 24,599 students (National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988). This distinctiveness was evaluated in relation to school grades and standardized test scores. Ratings in different subjects were very distinct, a finding supported by models incorporating grades…

The direct effects of locus of control and self-esteem on standardized test scores were studied. The relationships among the standardized test scores and measures of locus of control and self-esteem for 12,260 students from the National Education Longitudinal Study 1994 database were examined, using the same definition of locus of control and…

Public school students, parents, and teachers are protesting "high stakes" standardized tests that bar many deserving students from promotion or graduation. A typical high stakes test is a state-mandated 10th-grade test that students must pass to graduate high school. They are called high stakes because a student's entire high school career rides…

The primary focus of this experiment was to determine the effects of verbal skill training for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) on secondary school students. The other concern was whether there was a correlation between class grades and PSAT scores. Finally, there was a determination as to whether there were any attitude changes…