Comments on the Ad Hoc Committee's Critique of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests

Authors

  • Howard Wainer Educational Testing Service

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v7n5.1999

Keywords:

Beginning Teachers, Elementary Secondary Education, State Programs, Teacher Evaluation, Teacher Selection, Test Content, Test Reliability, Test Use, Test Validity

Abstract

The critique of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests (MTT) by Haney and his colleagues is deserving of comment, both because of the impact of the MTT and because of the evocative manner in which the tale is told. Their emphasis on examples makes for a forceful argument, and I fear that my reliance on precepts may look meager by comparison. Nevertheless, I hope that some of the observations that follow contribute to the more reasoned assessment of these instruments and their use not just in Massachusetts but in the many other states where similar programs are being developed or contemplated.

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Author Biography

Howard Wainer, Educational Testing Service

Howard Wainer received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1968, after which he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago. He worked at the Bureau of Social Science Research in Washington during the Carter Administration, and is now Principal Research Scientist at the Educational Testing Service. He was awarded the Educational Testing Service's Senior Scientist Award in 1990 and was selected for the Lady Davis Prize. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. His latest book, Visual Revelations, was published by Copernicus Books (a division of Springer-Verlag) in 1997.

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Published

1999-02-17

How to Cite

Wainer, H. (1999). Comments on the Ad Hoc Committee’s Critique of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 7, 5. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v7n5.1999

Issue

Vol. 7 (1999)

Section

Articles