About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherHarvard University Press

ISBN-100674028058

ISBN-139780674028050

eBay Product ID (ePID)63447802

Product Key Features

Number of Pages368 Pages

Publication NameMeasuring Up : What Educational Testing Really Tells Us

LanguageEnglish

SubjectEvaluation & Assessment, Statistics, Testing & Measurement

Publication Year2008

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaSocial Science, Education

AuthorDaniel Koretz

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.2 in

Item Weight18.3 Oz

Item Length8.2 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2007-045473

Dewey Edition22

ReviewsTest scores are objective, scientific, and easy to understand--so what's the problem? It turns out that there are a lot of problems and that we would do well to try and understand them better. Daniel Koretz's Measuring Up is an excellent place to start. The book is hard to classify. It is too sophisticated to be called a primer. There are no equations, so it can't be a measurement book. (Also, it is entertaining to read.) It says good things about testing and test use and takes apart some arguments of testing opponents, so it can't be an anti-testing book. But, it raises profound challenges to the interpretation of score trends on high-stakes tests, to the meaning of achievement trend and gap reports in terms of percent proficient, to the interpretation of crossnational achievement comparisons, and to popular assumptions about testing of students in special populations (including some assumptions written into law). So, it can't be a protesting book, either...He does a great service by clarifying measurement principles in the context of widespread testing uses and misuses., Every parent who uses league tables as a basis for placing his or her child in a school, whether in the U.S. or anywhere else, should read this book., Koretz has written the book on educational testing most educators and educational policy makers have been waiting for, even if they don't know it. In a culture defined by whether one is attacking or defending the messenger, the author's endeavor is to explain what educational testing does, and does not, reveal about how students and their schools are performing...For someone looking for a good lay explanation of essential topics such as score reliability and validity, measurement error, and the relationship between high-stakes testing and score inflation, this is the book. The style is eminently readable and the topics are profoundly important.

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal371.26

Table Of ContentPrologue If Only It Were So Simple What Is a Test? What We Measure: Just How Good Is the Sample? The Evolution of American Testing What Test Scores Tell Us about American Kids What Influences Test Scores, or How Not to Pick a School Error and Reliability: How Much We Don't Know What We're Talking About Reporting Performance: Standards and Scales Validity Inflated Test Scores Adverse Impact and Bias Testing Students with Special Needs Sensible Uses of Tests Notes Acknowledgments Index

SynopsisThis text demystifies educational testing from MCAS to SAT to WAIS. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Koretz takes readers through the fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education from high-stakes testing to special education., How do you judge the quality of a school, a district, a teacher, a student? By the test scores, of course. Yet for all the talk, what educational tests can and can't tell you, and how scores can be misunderstood and misused, remains a mystery to most. The complexities of testing are routinely ignored, either because they are unrecognized, or because they may be--well, complicated. Inspired by a popular Harvard course for students without an extensive mathematics background, "Measuring Up" demystifies educational testing--from MCAS to SAT to WAIS, with all the alphabet soup in between. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Daniel Koretz takes readers through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high-stakes testing to special education. He walks readers through everyday examples to show what tests do well, what their limits are, how easily tests and scores can be oversold or misunderstood, and how they can be used sensibly to help discover how much kids have learned.

LC Classification NumberLB3051.K667 2008