This reply to William A. Mehrens argues that test validity is the central issue in discussing the appropriate role of tests. It states that the procedures used to establish the validity of tests are inadequate because they depend primarily on content validity and not on construct and criterion validity. (JAZ)

The term "technology" often conjures up visions of scientific experiments and industrial processes, but technology is also a tool, something put together to satisfy a need, solve a problem, or attain a goal in social, economic, and educational institutions. In a broader sense, technology is any body of special knowledge, skills, and procedures,…

This paper provides a brief history of attempts to monitor testing in the United States. It describes proposals for monitoring from the first attempts in the 1920s to similar proposals in the 1990s. The discussion focuses on: (1) Giles Ruche's proposal for a consumer research bureau on tests; (2) Oscar K. Burros' reviews of tests and efforts to…

Procedures are presented for state departments of education and the local educational agencies to share the responsibility of showing that a minimum competency test is a fair measure of what is taught. It is recommended that the state lead in technical assistance, provide models, and monitor and evaluate the entire process. (CM)

A "high-stakes" test can directly and powerfully influence how teachers teach and students learn. Six principles that describe the negative consequences of measurement-driven instruction are discussed, and the effect of these consequences on student and teacher behavior, as well as the test itself, is outlined. (IAH)

This analysis of testing as a social institution covers contemporary testing, from tests of integrity, truthfulness, and drug tests (authenticity tests) through tests of achievement, intelligence, and vocational interest (qualifying tests). It is argued that tests both construct social persons and control and dominate them. (SLD)

The need for an independent mechanism that regulates, or audits, the testing enterprise is discussed along with a critique of current mechanisms for challenging a high-stakes test or its use and the need for independent auditing of the commercial test industry. Models for an auditing mechanism are reviewed. (SLD)

An overview of issues in program evaluation is provided for corporate contributions administrators, including the place of testing in such evaluations, so that the administrators are in a better position to plan, commission, monitor, evaluate, and use evaluations of the projects they fund. In the first chapter, metaphors and models for educational…

The attractiveness of some European education policies and the current push toward national standards of academic achievement have converged recently in proposals for national educational testing in the United States. This paper examines the origins and status of student examination policies in 12 countries of the European Community. A major…

Examines proposals to establish national test/testing system as administrative, policy mechanism to foster good teaching and learning, monitor student progress, help in college admission and employment decisions, and monitor progress toward national goals. Notes that history of testing as administrative mechanism suggests that linking of important…

This overview of the problem of linking testing and instruction describes two general policy areas which have focused attention on these links: studies of school effectiveness and minimum competency testing. Techniques used to investigate links between tests and instruction and policy issues that must be addressed are also discussed. (Author/CM)

Places performance assessment in the context of high-stakes uses, describes underlying technologies, and outlines the history of performance testing from 210 B.C.E. to the present. Historical issues of fairness, efficiency, cost, and infrastructure influence contemporary efforts to use performance assessments in large-scale, high-stakes testing…

Results from a national survey of teachers are reported for five types of state testing programs, those with: (1) high stakes for districts, schools, or teachers, and students; (2) high stakes for districts, schools, and teachers, and moderate stakes for students; (3) high stakes for districts, schools, and teachers, and low stakes for students;…