Measuring Up

Daniel Koretz is Professor of Education at Harvard University.

• * Prologue * 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

This is the most easily understood presentation I know of the deceptively complex world of educational testing, and the most important current issues. It should be welcomed with relief by a very broad audience, much of which is ignored in most presentations on testing. I would love to see it used in courses for virtually all future administrators, policy makers, and teachers. Anyone directing testing programs in school districts and states will find this invaluable when they have to explain what they're doing. This book is badly needed.