The Evolution of College Entrance Examinations

Donald M. Stewart, The College Board
Michael C. Johanek, University of Pennsylvania

Article comments

Copyright Cambridge University Press. Reprinted from Performance-Based Student Assessment: Challenges and Possibilities, edited by Joan Boykoff Baron and Dennie Palmer Wolf (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996) pages 261-286.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author, Michael C. Johanek was affiliated with The College Board. Currently, he is a senior fellow with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Abstract

Over the last 150 years, one of the hallmarks of American education has been the testing of increasingly large groups of people through processes of growing sophistication made possible by continuing advances in the technology of information processing. Much of this testing has been largely external to the instructional process, driven by the interests of policymakers and governments, especially vis-à-vis grades K-12, and has served various ends.