The Myth of Achievement Tests

The Myth of Achievement Tests PDF Author: James J. Heckman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022610012X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Achievement tests play an important role in modern societies. They are used to evaluate schools, to assign students to tracks within schools, and to identify weaknesses in student knowledge. The GED is an achievement test used to grant the status of high school graduate to anyone who passes it. GED recipients currently account for 12 percent of all high school credentials issued each year in the United States. But do achievement tests predict success in life? The Myth of Achievement Tests shows that achievement tests like the GED fail to measure important life skills. James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Tim Kautz, and a group of scholars offer an in-depth exploration of how the GED came to be used throughout the United States and why our reliance on it is dangerous. Drawing on decades of research, the authors show that, while GED recipients score as well on achievement tests as high school graduates who do not enroll in college, high school graduates vastly outperform GED recipients in terms of their earnings, employment opportunities, educational attainment, and health. The authors show that the differences in success between GED recipients and high school graduates are driven by character skills. Achievement tests like the GED do not adequately capture character skills like conscientiousness, perseverance, sociability, and curiosity. These skills are important in predicting a variety of life outcomes. They can be measured, and they can be taught. Using the GED as a case study, the authors explore what achievement tests miss and show the dangers of an educational system based on them. They call for a return to an emphasis on character in our schools, our systems of accountability, and our national dialogue. Contributors Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin–Madison Andrew Halpern-Manners, Indiana University Bloomington Paul A. LaFontaine, Federal Communications Commission Janice H. Laurence, Temple University Lois M. Quinn, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Pedro L. Rodríguez, Institute of Advanced Studies in Administration John Robert Warren, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The Myth of Achievement Tests

The Myth of Achievement Tests PDF Author: James J. Heckman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022610012X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 469

Get Book Here

Book Description
Achievement tests play an important role in modern societies. They are used to evaluate schools, to assign students to tracks within schools, and to identify weaknesses in student knowledge. The GED is an achievement test used to grant the status of high school graduate to anyone who passes it. GED recipients currently account for 12 percent of all high school credentials issued each year in the United States. But do achievement tests predict success in life? The Myth of Achievement Tests shows that achievement tests like the GED fail to measure important life skills. James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Tim Kautz, and a group of scholars offer an in-depth exploration of how the GED came to be used throughout the United States and why our reliance on it is dangerous. Drawing on decades of research, the authors show that, while GED recipients score as well on achievement tests as high school graduates who do not enroll in college, high school graduates vastly outperform GED recipients in terms of their earnings, employment opportunities, educational attainment, and health. The authors show that the differences in success between GED recipients and high school graduates are driven by character skills. Achievement tests like the GED do not adequately capture character skills like conscientiousness, perseverance, sociability, and curiosity. These skills are important in predicting a variety of life outcomes. They can be measured, and they can be taught. Using the GED as a case study, the authors explore what achievement tests miss and show the dangers of an educational system based on them. They call for a return to an emphasis on character in our schools, our systems of accountability, and our national dialogue. Contributors Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin–Madison Andrew Halpern-Manners, Indiana University Bloomington Paul A. LaFontaine, Federal Communications Commission Janice H. Laurence, Temple University Lois M. Quinn, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Pedro L. Rodríguez, Institute of Advanced Studies in Administration John Robert Warren, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Understanding Achievement Tests

Understanding Achievement Tests PDF Author: Lawrence M. Rudner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Achievement tests
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Current information about tests and testing procedures is provided for school district staff, particularly in districts without specially trained testing directors. Practical information is given about selecting and administering tests and about reporting results effectively. This guide opens with a discussion of the basic principles of testing. The various types of district-level tests are described, and different types of test scores are presented. The advantages and limitations of certain types of tests and scores are reviewed. The viewpoints of measurement experts on important issues in testing are expressed in the following chapters: (1) "Common Misuses of Standardized Tests" (Eric Gardner); (2) "Preparing Students To Take Standardized Achievement Tests" (William A. Mehrens); (3) "Matching Your Curriculum and Standardized Tests" (Jane C. Conoley); (4) "Using Customized Standardized Tests" (Paul L. Williams); (5) "Interpreting Test Scores for Compensatory Education Students" (Gary Echternacht); and (6) "Working with the Press" (Allan Hartman). Four additional discussions are appended: "Finding Information about Standardized Tests' (Lawrence M. Rudner and Kathryn Dorko); Organizations That Provide Test Information" (Ronald T. C. Boyd); "Putting Test Scores in Perspective: Communicating a Complete Report Card for Your Schools" (M. Kevin Matter); and "Major Achievement Tests and Their Characteristics" (Northwest Regional Education Laboratory). Names and addresses of major test publishers, and a glossary of testing terms are also included. (SLD)

Assessment Literacy for Educators in a Hurry

Assessment Literacy for Educators in a Hurry PDF Author: W. James Popham
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416626484
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
What is assessment literacy? It’s a handful of fundamental understandings about the testing concepts and procedures that influence educational decisions. And it just might be the most cost-effective means of real school improvement. With characteristic humor and aplomb, assessment expert W. James Popham strips away the psychometrician-speak and condenses the complexities of educational testing to six practical and action-oriented understandings about validity, reliability, fairness, score reporting, formative assessment, and affective assessment. This book is for busy educators at the classroom and leadership levels who want • Tests that are worth the valuable time they take to administer. • Tests that accurately measure what student have learned. • Tests that fairly reflect teacher and school effectiveness. • Tests that provide the instructionally useful data that will help students learn faster and better. Assessment Literacy for Educators in a Hurry is the fastest route to acquiring the measurement moxie necessary to understand and advocate for better assessment practices and build a case for stopping ineffective and harmful ones. In just a few hours’ time, you can pick up the knowledge you need to do a whole lot of good—for your students, yourself, and our schools.

Handbook of Psychological Testing

Handbook of Psychological Testing PDF Author: Paul Kline
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131779804X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 756

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Book Description
Since publication in its first edition the Handbook of Psychological Testing has become the standard text for organisational and educational psychologists. It offers the only comprehensicve, modern and clear account of the whole of the field of psychometrics. It covers psychometric theory, the different kinds of psychological test, applied psychological testing, and the evaluation of the best published psychological tests. It is outstanding for its detailed and complete coverage of the field, its clarity (even for the non-mathematical) and its emphasis on the practical application of psychometric theory in psychology and education, as well as in vocational, occupational and clinical fields. For this second edition the Handbook has been extensively revised and updated to include the latest research and thinking in the field. Unlike other work in this area, it challenges the scientific rigour of conventional psychometrics and identifies groundbreaking new ways forward.

Testing in American Schools

Testing in American Schools PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Educational tests and measurements
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description


Filling in The Blanks

Filling in The Blanks PDF Author: Keena Arbuthnot
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1617354430
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
Filling in the Blanks is a book dedicated to helping policymakers, researchers, academics and teachers, better understand standardized testing and the Black-White achievement gap. This book provides a wealth of background information, as well as the most recent findings, about testing and measurement concepts essential to understanding standardized tests. The book then reviews theories and research that has been conducted which explain the differences in performance between Black and White test takers on many standardized tests. Most notably, Filling in the Blanks presents several new theories that address why Black students do not perform as well as their White counterparts. These theories present very novel and innovative perspectives to understanding these test performance differences. The book ends with a host of recommendations that are intended to address the concerns and questions of several stakeholder groups.

Beyond Standardized Testing

Beyond Standardized Testing PDF Author: Douglas A. Archbald
Publisher: National Association of Secondary School Principals(NASSP)
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description


Unequal By Design

Unequal By Design PDF Author: Wayne Au
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135853746
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Unequal By Design critically examines high-stakes standardized testing in order to illuminate what is really at stake for students, teachers, and communities negatively affected by such testing. This thoughtful analysis traces standardized testing’s origins in the Eugenics and Social Efficiency movements of the late 19th and early 20th century through its current use as the central tool for national educational reform via No Child Left Behind. By exploring historical, social, economic, and educational aspects of testing, author Wayne Au demonstrates that these tests are not only premised on the creation of inequality, but that their structures are inextricably intertwined with social inequalities that exist outside of schools.

Evaluation and Testing in Nursing Education

Evaluation and Testing in Nursing Education PDF Author: Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826110622
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
Designated a Doody's Core Title and Essential Purchase! "Without question, this book should be on every nurse educator's bookshelf, or at least available through the library or nursing program office. Certainly, all graduate students studying to be nurse educators should have a copy." --Nursing Education Perspectives "This [third edition] is an invaluable resource for theoretical and practical application of evaluation and testing of clinical nursing students. Graduate students and veteran nurses preparing for their roles as nurse educators will want to add this book to their library." Score: 93, 4 stars --Doody's "This 3rd edition. . . .has again given us philosophical, theoretical and social/ethical frameworks for understanding assessment and measurement, as well as fundamental knowledge to develop evaluation tools for individual students and academic programs." -Nancy F. Langston, PhD, RN, FAAN Dean and Professor Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing All teachers need to assess learning. But often, teachers are not well prepared to carry out the tasks related to evaluation and testing. This third edition of Evaluation and Testing in Nursing Education serves as an authoritative resource for teachers in nursing education programs and health care agencies. Graduate students preparing for their roles as nurse educators will also want to add this book to their collection. As an inspiring, award-winning title, this book presents a comprehensive list of all the tools required to measure students' classroom and clinical performance. The newly revised edition sets forth expanded coverage on essential concepts of evaluation, measurement, and testing in nursing education; quality standards of effective measurement instruments; how to write all types of test items and establish clinical performance parameters and benchmarks; and how to evaluate critical thinking in written assignments and clinical performance. Special features: The steps involved in test construction, with guidelines on how to develop test length, test difficulty, item formats, and scoring procedures Guidelines for assembling and administering a test, including design rules and suggestions for reproducing the test Strategies for writing multiple-choice and multiple-response items How to develop test items that prepare students for licensure and certification examinations Like its popular predecessors, this text offers a seamless blending of theoretical and practical insight on evaluation and testing in nursing education, thus serving as an invaluable resource for both educators and students.

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education PDF Author: Laura S. Hamilton
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833033980
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Test-based accountability systems that attach high stakes to standardized test results have raised a number of issues on educational assessment and accountability. Do these high-stakes tests measure student achievement accurately? How can policymakers and educators attach the right consequences to the results of these tests? And what kinds of tradeoffs do these testing policies introduce? This book responds to the growing emphasis on high-stakes testing and offers recommendations for more-effective test-based accountability systems.