DIAGNOSTIC TESTING: STRATEGIES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Standardized testing in American society has been used largely to exclude or screen out. Diagnostic testing is more creative. It aims to help students overcome their learning deficiencies by diagnosing their strengths and weaknesses as a preliminary to placing them in instructional programs geared to their needs, as well as to provide a bench-mark against which to measure progress. Most urban-oriented institutions use some form of testing for diagnostic and prescriptive purposes, but how effectively or extensively they do so is open to question. Many try to use standardized tests in ways for which they were not designed. Others try to use diagnostic tools that have evolved out of the recent open-learning movement but are still in the developmental stage. Organizations such as the Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning have been working to develop practical instruments of diagnostic testing and to help colleges and universities adapt them to local circumstances. Because these efforts are underfunded, they are advancing slowly. They are unlikely to pick up speed without more generous funding by federal and foundation sources; unfortunately, those who control the purse strings still tend to be skeptical of such work.

Of course, not all urban-oriented institutions fully recognize the significance of diagnostic testing for their efforts to serve disadvantaged learners. The University of the District of Columbia does. It sees the planning and development of a comprehensive testing program as a key element in reducing student attrition—for without it, effective counseling, guidance, and instruction simply cannot be provided. A Foundation grant in 1978 aimed to help the university develop such a program.

To put this effort in perspective, let us consider briefly the context in which the university operates. Thirty years ago Washington, D.C., had a predominantly white, middle-class, well-educated population, the majority of whom worked for the federal government. Today, 70 percent of the district's population of over 637,000 is black. The majority are underschooled, underemployed, and socially, economically, and educationally locked in. The district also has a growing community of Hispanic immigrants from some twenty nations, most of whom are very poor.

The District of Columbia has seventeen institutions of higher education. Eleven are small, church-related, or special-purpose colleges with enrollments of a few hundred each. Five, including Howard University, are large, private, national/international institutions.