The PISA project has steadily increased its influence on the educational discourse and educational policies in the now 70 participating countries. The educational debate has become global, and the race to improve PISA-rankings has become high priority in many countries. For governments the PISA-test is a high-stake test. Governments are blamed for…

The transfer from an early intervention system to a program for a 3-year-old is a critical event that not only brings opportunities but also presents challenges to children and their families. In order to help families handle these transition related issues, professionals should collect authentic data about family concerns, needs, and expectations…

Nine preschool and school-age language assessment tools found to have acceptable levels of identification accuracy were evaluated to determine their overall levels of psychometric validity for use in diagnosing the presence/absence of language impairment. Eleven specific criteria based on those initially devised by McCauley and Swisher (1984) were…

Twenty people with suspected intellectual disability took the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS; C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus, 1998) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--3rd Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997) to see if the 2 IQ tests produced comparable results. A t test showed that the RIAS Composite Intelligence Index…

Evaluated five instruments of marital adjustment and satisfaction: Marital Adjustment Test, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Marital Satisfaction Index, Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Discusses studies evaluating psychometric properties of each instrument. Recommends the Marital Satisfaction Index for assessing…

Assesses spelling achievement of fourth graders using four self-corrected test methods (visual and listwise, visual and wordwise, oral and listwise, and oral and wordwise). Finds that wordwise feedback produced significantly higher gains than listwise and no significant differences in gains between visual and oral modes, or among presentation…

Forty-six achievement tests were compared for content validity, criterion-related validity, reliability, and norms. Results show that more popular tests provide the user with technical data in the critical areas examined, although the information provided may be incomplete. (Author/MT)

Describes a study conducted at the University of Tennessee at Marin to find a test more suitable than the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) to accurately measure reading improvement in developmental classes. Found no support for replacing the NDRT with the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills or the Comparative Guidance and Placement Program. (DMM)

Working definitions of proficiency and performance in language testing are established, and their role in multidimensional testing is examined. The discussion also covers the relationship between proficiency and performance, a comparison of both types of tests, and performance test scoring dilemmas. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/LB)

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised (WISC-R) Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ's were compared with Bannatyne recategorized WISC-R scores for groups of non-handicapped, educationally disadvantaged, learning disabled, and regular classroom Navajo Indian children. No definitive evidence was found to support the use of the…

The strengths and weaknesses of five typical machine-scored test formats are discussed, specific recommendations for format selection are made, and reasons for the importance of format are examined. (MSE)

Cognitive learning and cognitive measures are defined and various types of objective measures of cognitive learning are discussed and compared, including short answer test items, true-false items, multiple choice items, matching items, and written simulations. (MSE)

Many tests and techniques have been developed to measure the impact of college students. The choice of which to use depends on the institution's educational goals and the content of each student's educational experience. (MSE)

This study sought to discover the relationship between Adult Performance Level (APL) Survey scores and General Educational Development test scores. In Cook County, Illinois, 269 students were examined on both tests; scores were found to be correlated. Author discusses the need for both approaches. (Author/CSS)

Argues that treatment of foreign language vocabulary will vary predictably according to whether the instructional activity is based on a structural or a lexical/collocational view of language. Notes that in a structural approach, vocabulary learning is primarily a frequency- and input-based individual endeavor, while the lexical approach is more…