Testing Column

Nearly three-fifths of school districts administer commercially available standardized tests annually to almost every pupil in grades K-12, and more than three-fourths administer such tests each year to pupils in grades K-9, a survey has found.

The survey, based on responses from test directors in 50 districts, ranging in size from 3,300 to one million pupils, also found that more than two-thirds of the districts use such tests for evaluation and accountability. Some 55 percent of the districts use standardized tests for diagnosis, and only 12 percent use them for guidance, it found.

Examining data from 38 of the districts, the survey also found that testing costs range from $21,000 to $1.45 million per year, and that the average annual per-pupil cost for...