Examines differences between policymakers' assumptions about standardized testing and the ways 36 teachers prepare students for and administer tests in 2 urban school districts. Concludes that standardized tests may be poor measures of instructional improvements in connection with the regular curriculum. (FMW)

Students with severe/profound mental retardation performed functional tasks under training or probe conditions. Analysis of nine students' records indicated that students do not react to probe conditions as if they were extinction conditions; training data do not consistently reflect performance under probe conditions; and data collected under…

Guidelines for test developers and users are provided to insure that construction and selection of test instruments are conducted fairly. In addition to development and selection, issues of interpretation of scores; provision of information to test takers; and prevention of test bias based on race, gender, or ethnicity are addressed. Twenty-one…

Two of the most popular methods for obtaining equal-interval scales for educational measurement are discussed: Thurstone's method and Item Response Theory (IRT). Between-grade growth on these scales is compared; while unstandardized differences show different trends for the two scales, standardized differences that take standard deviations into…

This paper points out that there are certain generalizations about directions for guessing and methods of scoring that require that data be derived from random groups design. It supports the viewpoint that it is neither sufficient nor appropriate to make such generalizations on the basis of an analysis of scores obtained from the answer sheets of…

A survey of 97 school psychologists found that the majority felt they needed additional training in administering, scoring, and interpreting the fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Thirty-four percent were using the fourth edition. Rank ordering of instruments of choice was: Wechsler scales, Kaufman Scale, old Stanford-Binet,…

Although portions of this guide to finding information on educational and psychological tests at the Library of Congress are directed at those interested in standardized published tests as preparation for taking them, it will probably be most helpful to those administering tests, interpreting their results, or designing measuring devices for…

A table is provided for determining the frequency of occurrence of Verbal-Performance discrepancies on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in profiles of high Intelligence Quotient children. Warnings are offered regarding the adverse effect of subtest substitution or omission when administering the WISC-R to highly…

This manual summarizes technical information regarding the 1982 Stanford Achievement Test, Seventh Edition when administered to hearing-impaired students. In Section 1, the procedures used to select the norming sample (7,557 hearing-impaired students) are described, and the demographic characteristics of the resulting sample are compared to those…

Misconceptions high school students have about constructs in the BASIC programming language were examined in this study. A total of 96 high school students received a screening test after a semester course in BASIC programming, and 56 of these students were subsequently interviewed by means of questions and short programs prepared in advance. The…

During the past two decades, there have been several highly visible developments in education, including behavioral objectives, criterion-referenced test interpretations, the mastery model in instruction, performance-based instructional programs, competency testing, and accountability. This paper is an attempt to weave these various developments…

In 1977 the Dallas Independent School District devised a 5-year state-mandated improvement plan for increasing student test scores in priority goal areas. This paper describes the planning process as it evolved, the problems faced by large districts, and the 5-year student achievement results. The original plan contained eight priority goal areas,…

Examines some of the problems in interpreting data from attitude measures when the dimensionality of the instrument and sources of heterogeneity in the population are ignored. Illustrates this point by describing the development of an instrument designed to measure children's attitude toward science-related activities. (TW)

Standardized achievement and aptitude tests may be of very limited value in making placement or instructional decisions about bilingual students. The practice of categorizing standardized test scores by ethnic groups obscures the difficulties of administering and interpreting tests taken by bilinguals. Individuals who are bilingual have two…

The lack of a German language testing instrument for economic literacy has led to problems for researchers in German-speaking countries to establish the level of economic literacy in those countries. The translation of the 23rd edition (1987) of the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) into a German version, known as the Wirtschalfliche Bildung Test…