The New Mexico High School Proficiency Examination (NMHSPE) assesses the extent to which New Mexico students have mastered the skills and knowledge specified on the New Mexico Basic Skills Plan. The test includes an objective portion and a writing assessment. A student passing both sections receives a diploma endorsement from the State Department…

Available sources of information on academic achievement levels of American elementary and secondary school students as compared to their counterparts in major foreign countries are analyzed. Focus is on testing conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in Stockholm (Sweden). The IEA tests…

This study compared the different modes of evaluation at work in Greece's secondary school graduation and university admission process. The goals of the study were (1) to provide background information regarding the contribution of in-school assessment scores and external examination scores to higher education admissions decisions, and (2) to…

When the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) was mandated in Florida, a schedule of incremental increases in the required passing scores was legislated. The 1986 passing standards were scheduled to be increased in 1989. This change was projected to reduce by half the number of students admitted to upper-level status at Florida's colleges. A…

Drawing from information submitted by 60 urban, rural, and suburban institutions, this report documents the progress of California's community colleges in implementing the first phase of a statewide matriculation plan. Introductory material defines matriculation as a process that promotes and sustains the efforts of students to reach their…

Phase I of the Test Use Project, begun in 1979, was directed at gaining a representative picture of achievement testing in the nation's public schools. The project was designed to examine testing practices, uses, impacts and costs encompassing a wide range of formal and informal assessment measures. Phase II of the Test Use Project explored the…

The 1977 edition of the Florida Functional Literacy Test is a 117-item multiple-choice measure of 13 mathematics and 11 communication skills required for minimal acceptable performance for students to graduate from state high schools. A student must pass at least half of the skills in mathematics and communications and get 70 percent of the items…

Points at which state policies can control entry of individuals into the teaching profession were studied. A 50-state survey identified points of policy intervention and types of policies in effect in each state during 1983-84. Four in-depth case studies provided details about the political environment and rationale behind each policy, the extent…

Efficient methods of using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data files are discussed. One error in the NAEP SPSS file is discussed, and another error (which may be system-dependent) is mentioned. In addition, purely mathematical methods are used to address the…

To improve Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) participant assessment systems in Virginia, a project identified assessment systems and techniques/tools used by prime sponsors and developed an assessment model. It also identified key personnel of educational institutions in the prime sponsor area. A mail survey was followed by on-site…

This manual contains statistical information on the examinations administered by the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) to measure occupational competencies of experienced craftsmen in twenty-six trade specialties. (More detailed information on the program and on the scope of the examinations is provided in a separate…

Findings are reported based on an overall assessment of the impact of the North Carolina mandated competency test on eleventh graders of the class of 1980. The first part of the study examines the extent to which students who failed the first test showed improvement on subsequent testing. The second part studied those students who failed the…

The State Summary of Results presents a compilation of the scores of Michigan's fourth and seventh grade students who participated in the educational assessment along with discussion of the possible meaning and significance of the results. It also attempts to respond to the controversy which has surrounded the assessment program since its…

A computer simulation procedure was developed to reproduce the overall pattern of results obtained in the Educational Testing Service Growth Study. Then simulated data for seven sets of 10,000 to 15,000 cases were analyzed, and findings compared on the basis of correlations between estimated and true growth scores. Findings showed that growth was…

The results of a study which used the regression discontinuity model in the analysis of criterion-referenced test data are presented and inherent drawbacks in the use of the regression discontinuity model with this type of data are discussed. The discussion is based on the results of an analysis of data collected in the Mesa, Arizona School…