A Review of the Literature on Test Use

This report was developed in CSE’s Test Use Project. The general goal of the project is to examine and describe the features and applications of tests and other assessment methods that contribute to the improvement of instruction. The Test Use Project is therefore examining the nature of current assessment practice, the kinds of information such practice yields, the factors influencing the use of the information, the kinds of uses made, and the costs associated with assessment.

The first phase of the project (December 1979 to November 1981) consists primarily of a national survey of teachers and principals on the kinds of issues suggested above. The second, overlapping phase (February 1981 to November 1982) will consist of a small-scale but intensive study of testing costs and the factors identified in phase 1 as influencing the use of test results.

The design of the phase 1 national survey has been influenced by a variety of project planning activities. This report deals with one of these activities—a review of the literature on test use.