Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement

by Neil J. Salkind

Neil J. Salkind guides readers through the fundamentals of tests and measurement, using the conversational writing style and straightforward presentation techniques that have made his book Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics an international bestseller. He provides an overview of the design of tests, the use of tests, and some of the basic social, political, and legal issues that the process of testing involves. The Second Edition includes more opportunities to practice, and end-of-chapter sections that apply the material to everyday concerns regarding the assessment of behavior.

Genres: Reference, Grad School, Education

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[The Badger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a 4.0, but I STILL hate tests and measurements. Therefore, the book only gets 3 stars.

[Peaches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although long-winded at times, this book is informative and breaks information down in ways people like me, who are not interested in the subject at all, can understand. This book was required reading for an AIG graduate course I took.

[Krystal Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by statistics ✋️

But this book was at times funny and was well organized. I still hate stats but this wasn't the worst book ever.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sophisticated enough for graduate level. This should be used for a high school level course

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the assigned text for a graduate level class called "Principles of Assessment." The class is a condensed summer class, being taught over a three week time period.

This book contains bare-bones information about assessment. With the supplemental handouts the instructor provides, it adequately provides basic information for most of the students taking the class - graduate students going into special education or school counseling. For the group of us taking this class as part of an alternate licensure program, the book is a little of base.

It starts off with a discussion of reliability and validity. Different test formats are discussed in a middle section. Specialized types of tests (aptitude, personality, intelligence, etc.) each get a chapter. The final two chapters are on test bias and legal issues surrounding testing.

I started to say that this book contained too much information on specialized (standardized) tests to be very valuable for the classroom teacher. It doesn't really; it just contains insufficient information on formative testing, testing modifications, performance assessment, portfolios, etc.

I'm reading another assessment text, Classroom Assessment What Teachers Need to Know, to get an alternate viewpoint. I'm not as far along in that book, but so far it seems to contain more information that is geared towards classroom teaching.

I suspect that the other text was selected for our class because it is shorter and easier to read. Plus, Popham includes some opinionated material which could be distracting to students.

[Marsha Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new title for this book - Tests & Measurement for Dummies! Even I can understand key terms for tests and measurements!