ABSTRACT
Child study, as we noted in earlier chapters, involves making inferences, or educated guesses, about children’s behavior and development. There are a number of different tools available to help us make these inferences. Testing is commonly used by teachers, clinicians, and other practitioners. Increasingly, tests are used as indicators of numerous outcomes, such as teacher effectiveness, entrance/exit requirements for students, and in other “high-stakes” areas. By high stakes we mean areas where the outcomes of the tests have important, often life-effecting implications for those taking the tests.
