The State of School Examinations and Their Appropriateness for Measuring Instructional Objectives

The main objective of this study is to increase the value of educational tests for all people working in school systems as well as other beneficiaries. To accomplish this purpose, the researcher used 15 test formats from different elementary and intermediate schools The major findings of the study were as follow: 1 - There are major variations between schools in terms of specifying instructional objectives, because teachers have no specific directions to follow or any meaningful training in this matter. 2- Most educational tests concentrate on the low educational cognitive levels at the expense of the higher ones, such as assessing critical thinking and problem solving. Recommendations: 1- The Ministry of Education should establish an independent department of measurement and testing in each school district for developing and administering achievement tests. 2- Teachers must conduct explanation summaries for the achievement tests of their students