This report presents factors to consider in the design of computer-based testing for all students, including students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency. It also provides a process for the initial transformation of paper/pencil assessments to inclusive computer-based testing. Steps include: (1) assemble a group of experts to guide the transformation, including experts on assessment design, accessible Web design, universal design, and assistive technology; (2) decide...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computer Assisted Testing, Disabilities, Educational Testing, Elementary Secondary...
Rasch calibration permitted the development of short achievement tests that were economical in testing time, and could be developed in a series of difficulty levels to suit student individual differences. Furthermore, these tests were of adequate reliability for practical educational measurement when individual students were assigned to tests of appropriate difficulty level. A variety of test placement strategies were considered and several were tried. Two formal procedures involving the use of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Ability, Achievement Tests, Classification, Elementary Education, Elementary...
Conference papers on early childhood education cover the following topics: individual variation among preschoolers in a cognitive intervention program in low income families presented by Phyllis Levenstein, programmatic research on disadvantaged youth and an ameliorative intervention program by Merle B. Karnes and others, special education and disadvantaged Mexican Americans by Armando Rodriguez, disadvantaged migrant students and remediation through vocational education by William M. Smith,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Bilingual Students, Cognitive Development, Conference Reports, Day Care, Design...
Problems concerning the misuse of tests by teachers and administrators are discussed. Two common misconceptions of the basic function of tests are: (1) the test as an incentive for study; and (2) the test as a learning experience. Rather, a test should be conceived of as a measuring instrument. More appropriate conceptions of tests are: (1) tests for selection; (2) tests for pupil guidance; (3) tests for evaluating instruction. It is necessary to disassociate the selective function of testing...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Children, Cognitive Tests, Criterion Referenced Tests, Diagnostic...
Selected findings are presented from a study of classroom teachers' testing needs, testing proficiencies, testing practices, and testing resources in the public schools in Ohio. Focus was on determining how principals and supervisors can assist: (1) teachers in identifying and alleviating the most common test construction errors found on teacher-made tests; and (2) Ohio schools in providing resources to better support teachers' testing responsibilities. A sample of 586 school supervisors and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Administrator Attitudes, Administrator Role, Classroom Techniques, Elementary...
As the assessments mandated by the British National Curriculum have come into use, teachers have found the core concern to be how to manage the assessment of each student's progress within the framework of the statutory requirements. This book focuses on the assessment of students of ethnic minority backgrounds and presents a collection of contributions by people involved in the day-to-day delivery of education. They include: (1) "Beginnings of the Multi-Ethnic Classroom" (Pat Keel);...
Topics: ERIC Archive, British National Curriculum, Cultural Differences, Educational Assessment,...
A standard-setting procedure was developed for the Georgia Teacher Certification Testing Program as tests in 30 teaching fields were revised. A list of important characteristics of a standard-setting procedure was derived, drawing on the work of R. A. Berk (1986). The best method was found to be a highly formalized judgmental, empirical Angoff procedure with iterations, in which content area specialists in each field would be provided, after each round of ratings, with field test results and an...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computer Assisted Testing, Cutting Scores, Data Collection, Elementary Secondary...
Whatever the cause of present-day problems in American education, there is little doubt that proposals for national curricula and examinations are a response to widely-held perceptions of serious problems in the schools. Although national examinations have been proposed, there has been little consideration of their purposes and structures. The evolution of testing policy in the United States is reviewed, and six proposals to establish national examinations in this country are considered. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Entrance Examinations, Educational Assessment, Educational Change,...
The measurement dilemmas involved in assessing the national educational goals established by the President and governors at the 1989 education summit are discussed. The first and most important choice is what to assess and whether to align assessment to the vision of curriculum reform or to the curriculum that students are actually experiencing. Another issue includes whether assessment should be aligned to what is to be assessed or to what we know how to test. Once assessments are constructed,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Accountability, Criterion Referenced Tests, Educational...
Issues surrounding accurate assessment of depression in children have received much attention. However, the stability of scores from depression measures has generally been estimated using only classical test score theory, rather than the more powerful generalizability theory. The dependability of scores from the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was investigated using both generalizability and classical test score analyses. Data from 164 children aged 11 to 16 years from small Texas...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Children, Clinical Diagnosis, Depression (Psychology), Diagnostic Tests, Emotional...
A discussion of trends and progress in language testing looks at movement in the field since 1980, based on the themes and content of national and international conferences; trends in test content, method, and analysis; and work on the nature of proficiency and of language learning. It is proposed that movement evidenced by conferences is largely sideways and backward; that while improvements have been made in test content, method, and analysis, there is little evidence that these improvements...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computer Assisted Testing, Conferences, Educational Trends, Financial Support,...
This paper focuses on challenges to psychologists and psychology graduate students who are blind or visually impaired in the administration and scoring of various psychological tests. Organized by specific tests, the paper highlights those aspects of testing which pose particular difficulty to testers with visual impairments and also describes methods by which some tests can be adapted to mediate these challenges. Specific tests include: (1) the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised verbal...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adults, Graduate Students, Higher Education, Intelligence Tests, Psychological...
Sound testing practices and the high-quality information that can result are helpful to those who have oversight, responsibility, or interest in American education. To the extent that tests provide high-quality information, they form the basis for making accurate judgments about individual students. It is equally true, however, that factors which attenuate the validity of tests or degrade the usefulness of the information they yield represent threats to sound decision making. This chapter...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cheating, Educational Testing, Integrity, Prevention, Student Evaluation, Test...
Instruments and methods are considered by many the nuts and bolts of school testing programs, for both individuals and groups. Too often, the individual is lost in the machinery of such a school program, and data collected becomes the end product of appraisal and assessment. Programs of student appraisal procedures should be developed around eight essential principles, including; (1) there is no single best appraisal technique or procedure to be recommended for all programs, and (2) student...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Group Testing, Guidance Programs, Individual Testing, Program Evaluation, Student...
A series of studies were conducted to modify the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ) for use with mentally retarded individuals. Modification of the GATB consisted of eliminating answer sheets, increasing practice, individual administration, untimed administration, removal of verbally loaded items, and simplifying test instructions and practice problems. None of these modifications significantly changed the test performance of the mentally...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adults, Evaluation Methods, Exceptional Child Research, Material Development, Mild...
School psychologists (13) representing the 6 counties served by the Northern Indian California Education Project (Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act) attended a workshop on January 14, 1972, at Humboldt State College. Also attending were Humboldt State personnel from the fields of education and psychology. The workshop was intended to bring together the practicing school psychologists to discuss educational problems of American Indian children within the service area. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, American Indians, Educational Diagnosis, Educational Problems,...
Models proposed by Cleary, Thorndike, Cole, Linn, Einhorn and Bass, Darlington, and Gross and Su for analyzing bias in the use of tests in a selection strategy are surveyed. Several additional models are also introduced. The purpose is to describe, compare, contrast, and evaluate these models while extracting such useful ideas as may be found in these approaches. The models of Thorndike, Cole, and Linn are judged to contain operational contradictions because of their use of the wrong...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Comparative Analysis, Culture Fair Tests, Models, Personnel Selection, Prediction,...
The ways in which current studies in sociolinguistics relate to the field of speech pathology are discussed, with particular focus on the role of sociolinguistics in standardized testing. The content validity and criterion-related validity of standardized tests is considered. Disproportionate distribution of scores for particular cultural groups indicates bias in test materials, rather than significant differences in actual subject capability. Examination of the issue from a sociolinguistic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Dialect Studies, Educational Testing, English, Language Attitudes, Language Research,...
Analyses of student responses to Introductory Psychology test questions were discussed. The publisher supplied a two thousand item test bank on computer tape. Instructors selected questions for fifteen item tests. The test questions were labeled by the publisher as factual or conceptual. The semester course used a mastery learning format in which repeat testing was conducted using alternate test forms. Standard item analysis included the percentage of students passing and correlation...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Difficulty Level, Higher Education, Item Analysis, Item Banks, Multiple Choice Tests,...
Three studies, carried out independently at Ben Gurion University and at Haifa University, tested students of comparable English proficiency who were enrolled in similar courses of English reading comprehension. The studies were carried out to investigate the effect of dictionary use in examinations on students' test performance. In the study at Ben Gurion University, 9 classes, including 91 students, participated. At Haifa University, 5 reading comprehension tests were administered to 670...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Context Clues, Dictionaries, English (Second Language), Higher Education, Language...
Since the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was published in 1991, it has been reported that fewer students are qualifying for gifted programs that use the WISC-III as a criterion measure. WISC-III differs from the WISC-Revised (WISC-R) in having a greater emphasis on speed of response, which could "penalize" reflective gifted children. The WISC-III was administered to 141 rural West Virginia children aged 6-12.5 who had full-scale IQ scores above 114....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Ability Identification, Children, Elementary Education, Elementary School Students,...
In 1990 the Kentucky state legislature passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which mandated a total overhaul of the state's kindergarten through grade 12 public school system and was designed to result in equitable education for all students. Accountability components of the KERA include financial incentives for staff in schools where student gains are exemplary and the use of sanctions to cause staff in ineffective schools to boost student achievement gains to an acceptable level....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Accountability, Achievement Gains, Educational Assessment,...
Applications of item response theory to practical testing problems including equating, differential item functioning, and computerized adaptive testing, require that item parameter estimates be placed onto a common metric. In this study, two methods for developing a common metric for the graded response model under item response theory were compared: (1) linking separate calibration runs using equating coefficients from the characteristic curve method; and (2) concurrent calibration using the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adaptive Testing, Comparative Analysis, Computer Assisted Testing, Equated Scores,...
This report reviews existing research on the effects of high stakes tests on students, particularly students with disabilities. The review focuses on potential effects on the curriculum, student learning, attitudes and school climate, and the costs versus benefits of high stakes testing of students with disabilities. Results indicate that research results on high stakes testing are inconclusive and vary with the type of research questions asked and the types of tests examined. The evidence...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Standards, Accountability, Cost Effectiveness, Curriculum Development,...
The quality and the effectiveness of the 1992 New Jersey Grade 8 Early Warning Test (NJEWT) are assessed. Standardized tests possess clear advantages for educators, especially in the case of administration and scoring, but there are clear disadvantages as well, including the possibility of bias. Four criteria are applied to the NJEWT: adequacy, impact, reliability, and validity. The writing test of the NJEWT appears to test reading comprehension more than writing, making the validity of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Grade 8, Junior High School Students, Junior High Schools,...
This handbook will assist principals and school testing coordinators in implementing the spring 2007 administration of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). Information regarding administration timeline, reporting, process, online tools and contact personnel is discussed. Contents include: (1) Scheduling; (2) Identify Primary Test Administrators; (3) Plan for Supplemental Test Administration; (4) Review your DRA OMS Data; (5) Review your eRIDE Enrollment Roster; (6) Verify Grade...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Testing Accommodations, Alternative Assessment, Educational Testing, Guidance...
A study compared the performance of 44 applicants seeking admission to an alternative high school (n=19) and nursing assistant program (n=25) at a Wisconsin postsecondary institution on the Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET) test and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. (Applicants who did not achieve a minimum score on ASSET then took the Nelson-Denny.) The hypothesis was that there would be no significant differences in applicants' performance as shown by the raw scores on the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Allied Health Occupations Education, Educational Testing, High Schools,...
The National Assessment Governing Board and the National Center for Education Statistics sponsored a Joint Conference on Standard Setting for Large-Scale Assessments to provide a forum for technical and policy issues relevant to setting standards at local, state, and national levels. Volume I contains an executive summary of the conference and synopses of the conference papers. This volume comprises the papers prepared for the conference and summaries of the plenary sessions and small breakout...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Accountability, Educational Assessment, Educational...
Multiple choice tests are widely viewed as the most effective and objective means of assessment. Item development is the central component of creating an effective test, but test developers often do not have the background in item development. This document describes recall, application, and analysis, the three cognitive levels of test items. It also reviews single best response, situational set, and complex, the three main item types. A discussion is provided of guidelines for writing...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, Item Analysis, Measures (Individuals), Multiple...
In this study, FairTest evaluated how well state assessment practices live up to the promise of high standards without standardization. The practices of states were measured against standards derived from the "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems," a 1995 publication of education and civil rights groups working through the National Forum on Assessment. FairTest used surveys, interviews, and various documents to evaluate the states and developed a scoring guide to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Decision Making, Educational Assessment, Educational Change,...
IN ORDER TO TEST THE EFFICACY OF METHODS USED BY VARIOUS RESEARCHERS FOR GENERATING SPONTANEOUS SPEECH FROM UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN, 20 THREE- TO FOUR-YEAR-OLD GIRLS WERE SELECTED AT RANDOM FROM A HEADSTART-TYPE PROGRAM AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY FOR TESTING. ALL WERE NEGROES AND FROM A TARGET AREA FOR POVERTY PROGRAMS. THE CHILDREN WERE TESTED INDIVIDUALLY OR TWO AT A TIME BY TWO FEMALE EXAMINERS, ONE WHITE AND ONE NEGRO. TEST SESSIONS WERE SHORT AND CHILDREN UNWILLING TO PARTICIPATE OR SUSPICIOUS...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Disadvantaged, Preschool Children, Preschool Tests, Speech Handicaps, Speech Tests,...
A pretest-posttest design for measuring the effects of educational programs uses comparison groups consisting of pupils like those in the treatment group but not getting that particular treatment. Although the design is geared primarily to evaluation of Title I programs in large cities, it should also apply to other situations. The plan for measuring treatment effects is to (1) identify the major objectives and the most important side effects of the programs, and (2) develop measures of the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Programs, Measurement Techniques, Pretesting, Pretests Posttests, Program...
"Mainstreaming" is defined as a program whereby handicapped children are placed in regular classrooms for all or part of the school day, with steps taken to see that their special needs are satisfied within this arrangement. Key court decisions are cited because the implications of mainstreaming for contemporary education can be properly understood only within the broad context of the current legal and educational status of the handicapped. The pros and cons of the special education...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Classroom Desegregation, Court Litigation, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal...
Four major topics were discussed at the conference: application of information theory to testing; recent advances in psychometric methods; evaluating group interaction; and new developments in the education of abler students. Papers delivered were: Multiple Assignment of Persons to Jobs, by Paul S. Dwyer; New Light on Test Strategy from Decision Theory, by Lee J. Cronbach; The Relation Between Uncertainty and Variance, by William J. McGill; Some Recent Results in Latent Structure Analysis, by...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academically Gifted, Acceleration, Advanced Placement Programs, Analysis of Variance,...
The phenomenon of minimum competency testing (MCT) is explored, beginning with its origins in public concern for educational accountability. Three major themes appearing in the states enacting prescriptive legislation are described: state standards/state test (Florida); state standards/local test (Oregon); and local standards/local test (Colorado). Problems associated with the complexity of MCT are outlined, the most important being public perceptions; vocabulary of MCT; educational impact;...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Standards, Accountability, Administrative Problems, Community Attitudes,...
This paper reviews eight major problem areas concerning testing practices of interest to professionals practicing psychology in the schools. These areas, identified by the Task Force on Psychology in the Schools of the American Psychological Association, include: (1) test use; (2) diagnostic versus placement tests; (3) informed parental consent for special education placement; (4) inappropriate placement of minority children in special education; (5) decision-making data regarding individual...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Ability, Cognitive Measurement, Communicative Competence (Languages),...
The redesign of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has resulted in improved usefulness of the data set to conduct policy relevant research on Hispanic student achievement. Improvements include changing the procedure for ethnic identification to self-reporting, modifying sample selection, and planning for the conduct of special assessments. The Language Minority Survey (LMS) was designed to: collect data on student participation in special programs; analyze achievement of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Educational Assessment, Educational Policy, Elementary...
In certain situations, grade equivalent scores are the most appropriate statistic available for reporting achievement test data. It is noted that testing practitioners have found that raw scores, normal curve equivalents, stanines, and standard scores are very useful. However, it is best to convert to either grade equivalents or percentiles before communicating them to lay audiences. In the Austin, Texas Independent School District, both grade equivalents and percentiles are routinely reported...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Elementary Secondary Education, Grade Equivalent Scores,...
A "maximin" model for item response theory based test design is proposed. In this model only the relative shape of the target test information function is specified. It serves as a constraint subject to which a linear programming algorithm maximizes the information in the test. In the practice of test construction there may be several demands with respect to the properties of the test. The way in which these can be formulated as linear constraints in the model is demonstrated. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Algorithms, Foreign Countries, Item Banks, Latent Trait Theory, Linear Programing,...
This Digest overviews legal challenges in five areas of test use for decision-making in schools: ability tracking, placement in special education classes, test scores as college admissions criteria, test disclosure, and teacher competency testing. Cases illustrating these challenges are described and include: Hobson v. Hansen (1967), Moses v. Washington Parish School Board (1971), Larry P. v. Riles (1972), Parents in Action on Special Education v. Hannon (1980), Diana v. California State Board...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Court Litigation, Educational Testing, Intelligence Tests, Legal Problems, Racial...
While many researchers have examined the effects of test anxiety on examination completion time and performance, most have not controlled for ability in their studies. In this study, it was hypothesized that, when ability was controlled, college students high in state anxiety would take significantly longer to complete an examination and would score significantly lower in performance than would students low in state anxiety. College students (N=88) were administered the state anxiety section of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Ability, College Students, Higher Education, Performance Factors, Scores,...
Three standard assessment instruments (Rorschach, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and 16PF) were administered to 12 participating Rosebud Sioux Indians--6 males, 6 females. Reports were generated for each instrument. Consensual and unique concepts contained in all the reports were analyzed in order to describe the contents. Six judges, all residents of the reservation and either college employees or social agency personnel attempted to match the participants with their reports. The judges...
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indians, Cultural Differences, Objective Tests, Psychological Studies,...
Topics related to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed. Issues affecting the impact of testing on education include: what is tested; how scores are referenced; internal versus external sources of testing; and the rewards, sanctions, or stakes associated with test results. Testing has both intentional (direct) and indirect effects. Seven principles regarding the impact of testing are especially true when the tests are used for important social decisions: (1)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Educational Assessment, Educational Policy, Educational Testing,...
A national sample of 3,300 elementary and secondary school teachers, who had recently administered the Metropolitan Achievement Tests in their classrooms, responded to a questionnaire concerning various standardized achievement test issues. Teachers gave their opinion on: the amount of such testing in their schools; personal use of test results; possible test score applications; and various test moratoriums and other test-related policies. The teachers were instructed to base their answers on...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Educational Policy, Educational Testing, Elementary Secondary...
Factors influencing the performance of handicapped students on the North Carolina Minimum Competency Test (Fall, 1978 administration) were analyzed. Educably mentally handicapped (EMH) and learning disabled (LD) students represented 83% of the 3,043 handicapped students who took the Fall, 1978 test. A questionnaire was designed to collect the following data from random samples of the EMH and LD groups: (1) test modifications employed; (2) history of special education services; and (3)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Basic Skills, Cutting Scores, Disabilities, Graduation Requirements, High Schools,...
Six issues of the newsletter of the General Educational Development Testing Service discuss developments of interest to users of the Tests of General Educational Development (GED) in the United States and Canada. The feature article of each issue is: (1) "Survey of Testing Centers Reveals Trends in Access to Technology"; (2) "Washington State Correctional Facility Conducts Graduation Ceremony, Offers College Guidance" (William Lisk); (3) "Successful Graduates Say...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Basic Education, Educational Certificates, Equivalency Tests, Family Programs,...
The experiences of state and local education agencies in implementing the RMC evaluation models in their evaluations of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are discussed with emphasis on the problems encountered, suggestions for resolving these problems, and encouraging results which have been reported. Four activities are described as common for all of the agencies which have been using the RMC models to measure achievement gains: test selection and administration; scoring...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Administrative Problems, Compensatory Education, Data Processing, Educational...
The traditional use of scores derived from standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests is examined as to its role in a local school system's efforts to monitor itself and to examine how well individual students, schools and the overall system are functioning. Several questions regarding the legitimacy of well-established practices involving test use are raised. These questions include: (1) how much and what kind of information do norm-referenced standardized tests really provide for program...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Aptitude Tests, Decision Making, Elementary Secondary Education,...
To test the applicability of multidimensional ratings of writing effectiveness that are amenable to normal classroom usage, all grade 7 students (N=139) from one suburban school (Sydney, Australia) wrote a brief essay. Master and student teachers evaluated all the essays according to overall effectiveness of written expression and according to holistic ratings of specific components (mechanics, sentence structure, organization, word usage, content/ideas, and style). Ratings of writing...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Correlation, Essay Tests, Foreign Countries, Grade 7, Grading, Holistic Evaluation,...
A variety of adults were surveyed on alternative strategies for the State of Louisiana's minimum competency testing program. Both individual and group interviews were conducted with teachers, local school district supervisors and program administrators, parents, and state board of education members. Participants discussed what a state testing program should accomplish and suggested alternative testing strategies. The current testing program used the Basic Skills Tests (BST). Respondents wanted...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Administrator Attitudes, Alternative Assessment, Attitude Measures, Boards of...
