The test security policies and practices of state departments of education were investigated in a survey responded to by 46 states for 1989-90. The most detailed test security procedures have been implemented when test stakes are highest. Complex procedures are only considered cost effective in large-scale programs. (SLD)

Results from the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program for 5,392 elementary school students and from the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (multiple choice) for a national sample are used to explore local item independence (LID) of test items. Some strategies are suggested for measuring LID in performance assessments. (SLD)

To examine how performance-based assessment changed mathematics teaching under conditions of moderate and low-stake assessment, middle school teachers were studied in five districts in Maryland and Maine, with interviews of 82 teachers and administrators. Findings suggest that effects of state testing on teaching may be overrated by both advocates…

Studied the amount of measurement error in a state's performance-based writing task as it relates to high-stakes decision reproducibility. Using 175 eighth-grade writing samples, the study finds moderate correlations between the two raters' scores, with significant differences for the rates for the handwritten, but not the typed, essays.(SLD)

Because of a concern by the Alaska State Department of Education that results from the American College Test (ACT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are not being used to their fullest advantage to improve secondary instruction, the use of these assessment results by other states was studied. A two-page survey and request for copies of state…

The assumptions that high-stakes testing is useful in raising educational standards for all students and that higher standards lead to higher educational performance for all students have not been tested in schools along the Texas border with Mexico. This study analyzed the effects of the high-stakes testing policy on students in a small rural…

This paper presents the results of a series of summary analyses of descriptive statistics concerning 5,720 Louisiana teachers who were assessed with the System for Teaching and Learning Assessment and Review (STAR)--a comprehensive on-the-job statewide teacher assessment system--during the second pilot year (1989-90). Data were collected by about…

A study involving all students taking the California Achievement Test (CAT) in the Cleveland City School District (Ohio) during the fall of 1989 was conducted to assess the effects of the use of parallel test forms. Each spring, all students in grades 4, 6, and 8 are selected to take the appropriate level of the CAT reading test, Form E. As a…

The second statewide direct writing assessment was conducted for grade eight by the California Assessment Program (CAP) in the spring of 1988. Each student wrote an essay in response to 1 of 45 prompts (writing tasks) representing 6 types of writing: autobiographical incident, report of information, problem solution, evaluation, story, and…

Florida requires all students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 to demonstrate mastery of minimum performance standards using the Florida Student State Assessment Test (SSAT) forms for the appropriate grade level. The tests are administered in October and cover reading, writing, and mathematics. Current practices used to prepare students for the SSAT…

Current science assessments in use in the states were studied, and the extent to which these assessments meet the goals of reform of science education specified by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) was investigated. These goals were identified by the AAAS in "Project 2061: Science for All Americans?" Data…

In February 1989, statewide assessment tests in reading, mathematics, and writing were given to a sample of eighth graders throughout Oregon. The results and analyses of reading and mathematics assessments are presented. Important trends are described based on the analysis of data from 1985, 1987, and 1989. The 1989 information provides the first…

A method was developed for identifying students who may be at high risk for failing the State Board Licensing Examination (SBE) for registered nurses. The subjects used in developing prediction equations included 50 students who graduated from the nursing program at Saint Joseph's College (SJC) in North Windham (Maine) during the years 1983-84.…

A battery of mathematics tests was developed to predict: (1) student success on the mathematics subtest of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), basic skills tests required upon entry into public colleges or universities in Texas; and (2) student readiness for college level mathematics. The developed tests were intended to provide universities…

The operational preparations for the Dutch national assessment program in education started in 1986. The program's aim is to periodically describe the contents of the curriculum in use and the attainment of 8-year-old and 11-year-old students on a national basis by means of surveys. In this paper some of the guiding principles in instrument…