The critical role of testing in improving student achievement

How do we reliably assess the progress of students?

High standards, valid tests and testing, and accountability--the keys to improving America's schools

The American school crisis has begun to change the role of testing, and educators are increasingly being held accountable for achievement results. Much research supports the positive and substantial effects of standardized tests, and they clearly merit expanded roles in improving achievement. In Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform, Herbert J. Walberg draws on scientific studies of tests and their use to inform citizens, legislators, parents, and educators about the most important new ideas in achievement testing and the steps necessary to develop good tests. In addition, he describes the ways that tests can be best used--including using tests for student incentives and paying teachers for performance, preventing test fraud by students and teachers, and the role of tests in meeting the new state and national standards. In view of the continuing technical and political problems of tests and testing, the last chapter argues that, for accountability, to improve tests and testing, and to prevent fraud, the development, administration, scoring, and reporting test results should be conducted independent of traditional school authorities.

The pressing need to improve achievement in American schools is now widely recognized. This book offers some promising research-based solutions.

Herbert J. Walberg, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education, taught for thirty-five years at Harvard and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Author or editor of more than sixty books, he has written extensively for educational and psychological scholarly journals on measuring and raising student achievement and human accomplishments. His most recent book is Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform (Hoover Institution Press, 2011). He was appointed a member of the National Assessment Governing Board and the National Board for Educational Sciences and a fellow of several scholarly groups, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Education, and the Royal Statistical Society. He chairs the Beck Foundation and the Heartland Institute.