The second edition of the International Test Commission Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests was prepared between 2005 and 2015 to improve upon the first edition, and to respond to advances in testing technology and practices. The 18 guidelines are organized into six categories to facilitate their use: pre-condition (3), test development…

In 2017, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funded Mathematica to conduct the Infant and Toddler Teacher and Caregiver Competencies (ITTCC) project. The project aims to examine existing efforts across states, institutions of higher education, professional organizations, and…

The long-term goal of the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) and other federal and state early intervention and early childhood education initiatives is improved child and family outcomes. States play a critical role in supporting practitioners in the use of evidence-based practices to improve child and family outcomes. When practitioners…

States and districts across the country are grappling with how to incorporate assessments of student learning into their teacher evaluation systems. Sophisticated statistical models have been proposed to estimate the relative value individual teachers add to their students' assessment performance (hence the term teacher "value-added" measures).…

States and districts across the country are grappling with how to incorporate assessments of student learning into their teacher evaluation systems. Sophisticated statistical models have been proposed to estimate the relative value individual teachers add to their students' assessment performance (hence the term teacher "value-added" measures).…

This handbook is designed as a quick reference for first-year teachers who find themselves in an assessment driven environment with little experience to help make sense of the language, underlying philosophy, or organizational structure of the assessment system. The handbook begins with advice on developing and evaluating effective learning…

The authors center their presentation of material around a conceptual understanding of psychometric issues, such as validity and reliability, and on purpose rather than procedure, the "why" rather than the "how to." Their goal is to introduce psychometric principles at a level that is deeper and more focused than found in introductory…

This paper provides educators with a general perspective on computer literacy and an in-depth examination of the Computer Literacy Awareness Assessment conducted by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC). Addressing computer literacy as part of the ongoing use of computers in a classroom setting is identified as the most reasonable…

The paper presents information on curricular material of the Macomb (Illinois) 0-3 Regional Project for rural handicapped and high risk infants and toddlers as it is cross referenced with items in the project's test battery. The cross referencing technique is said to help determine whether the activities a child experiences relate to the test…

Certain testing procedures will overcome some of the problems associated with the use of essay tests. Essay tests may not validly indicate achievement because the questions included in the test may not fairly represent instructional content. Reliability may be a problem because of variations in examinee response in different situations, in test…

This book is a guide to categorizing, measuring, testing, and assessing aspects of language, and is intended for language teachers, speech therapists and other language-related practitioners, and researchers, in conjunction with other resources on research methods and statistics. The first part is a discussion of basic terminology and the varied…

Describes an attempt to construct an ESL dictation test that would: (1) be appropriate for a wide range of ability, (2) be easy and fast to score, (3) consist of set items that would form both a unidimensional and cumulative scale, and (4) yield scores that would be directly interpretable with respect to specified levels of English proficiency.…

The paper presents 12 steps in developing and validating criterion referenced tests (CRTs). The author emphasizes the need to closely examine the test's stated purpose and trace the test through the 12 steps in order to find CRTs that are useful rather than useless. Examples are given for each step: preparing or selecting objectives; developing…

Procedures for conducting functional level testing have been available for use by practitioners for some time. However, the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS), developed in response to the educational amendments of 1974 to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), has provided the impetus for widespread adoption of this…

Brief guidelines for the selection of norm referenced tests are offered. Four considerations in selecting an appropriate test are: (1) appropriateness of test content; (2) appropriateness of the norm group; (3) test reliability; and (4) ease of administration. (MH)