There is a ton of information in this book, and the majority of teachers will never need to use much of it. Still, it's important that all teachers, especially those in middle school and up, have at least a cursory knowledge of most of this information. My only real complaint about the content of the book is that the statistical information could have been presented in a more thorough and direct format. All of the information needed to introduce concepts like z-scores, standard deviation, stanines, and so on are presented, but the manner in which the material is discussed could have been organized better.
Other than that, the book is well-written, extremely informative, and serves as a great introduction to the concept of testing and what it does.
Educational Testing & Measurement ~ Classroom Application & Practice was a required text for a college course, so I need the book for the class. Being able to purchase it loose leaf on Amazon for one-third of the price that the college bookstore was charged, saved me over $100. That is a serious discount just to get the book unbound & have to put it in a dollar binder to use. The text is identical to the bound version. This option to purchase a needed text in unbound format is great to stretch the college budget.
The text was easy to understand, complete and covered all aspects of the subject. It was easy to use for the research required for the course and met the needs of the student in my opinion.
While the authors explain assessment techniques in an informal a conversational tone, the writing is a little too casual at times. Clear definitions and more precise language would benefit this book well before they explore the main concepts. That being said, the book is practically minded and the authors do a spectacular job of relating theory to application. Also, this edition (8th) has an outdated perspective on RTI. Regardless, I will keep this book close to me as I enter the teaching profession.
For a text that discusses statistics and educational testing, I found it to be very informative and user friendly. I am a hands on learner and was a bit nervous about full understanding the concepts in this text. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised at how well I understand and could apply the concepts in the text.
Presents a relatively unbiased view of the effects of HSTs on students, teachers, administrators, and communities. Also presents very practical ideas for creating valid, reliable tests in the classroom. There are several chapters on statistical measures and how to interpret basic standardized test reports.
To determine if learning is occurring in any form of education there must be some system of measurement. This text looks at the purpose of testing as well as the various forms of measurements available to the teacher.