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Achievement Tests

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence
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Overview

Achievement tests measure gains in skills or knowledge, come in different guises, and are used in a variety of ways. Some tests have attracted considerable controversy, especially those that have become “high-stakes” tests. Despite controversies, achievement tests can play important roles in not only assessing achievement but also fostering learning and creating more effective educational environments. These types of tests are common, but they are particularly important for children and adolescents as they provide important ways to understand youth and shape their development.

Achievement Tests

Achievement tests are evaluations that seek to measure knowledge or skills gained after training, instruction, or other experiences (Gibson and Mitchell 2008; McMillan and Schumacher 2010). These types of tests are taken by adolescents throughout their educational careers, even though they sometimes may not even realize that they are taking them.

Although a wide variety of achievement...

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References

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Correspondence to Roger J. R. Levesque .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Levesque, R.J.R. (2016). Achievement Tests. In: Levesque, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_354-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_354-2

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