Discusses some practical issues in linking educational assessments, focusing on the importance of clarity of purpose when assessments are linked. Also stresses the importance of the design used to collect data for linking. Uses linking studies from a variety of situations to illustrate these points. (SLD)

This paper summarizes some of the basic concepts in test equating. Various types of equating methods, as well as data collection designs, are outlined, with attempts to provide insight into preferred methods and techniques. Test equating describes a group of methods that enable test constructors and users to compare scores from two different forms…

Norm-referenced tests yield information regarding a student's performance in comparison to a norm or average of performance by similar students. Norms are statistics that describe the test performance of a well-defined population. The process of constructing norms, called norming, is explored briefly in this paper. Some of the most widely reported…

This paper proposes a model to establish which criteria are considered by stakeholders as valid for evaluating a program. The model is developed with the aim of increasing the credibility and use of evaluations. Stakeholders are involved in the identification of potential evaluation criteria, and ratings of validity and priority are used as the…

A set of procedures is described for constructing an assessment network composed of a connected system of rater and writing task banks within the context of large-scale assessments of written composition. The calibration of the assessment tasks and the measurement of individuals are viewed as separate, although complementary, activities. The…

This paper describes the rationale for the Defining Issues Test (DIT), an objective test of moral judgment which attempts to improve upon three aspects of Kohlberg's research: data collection, categorization of moral judgments (the scoring system), and method of indexing a subject's progress in a developmental sequence. In each case, the way in…

The final versions of nationally developed standards for science education have recently been published for use by practitioners, and it is obvious that these standards will have some influence on how science education is conducted. The effects of the standards on teaching and curriculum development can be anticipated, but their effects on…

An instrument to assist in assessing textbooks was created to provide a concise format for comparison and evaluation. Textbook characteristics were selected to illustrate content and proportion of characteristics of textbooks. Nine textbook characteristics were selected for quantifying the content areas of textbooks: (1) number of pages in the…

Intended as an aid to researchers who must decide which measurement techniques to use in the study of organizational communication, this paper describes and analyzes three of the most widely used data collection instruments: the Communication Audit Survey Questionnaire (CAS), the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ), and the…

Thirty psychology majors in a Tests and Measurement class, and 49 of 65 faculty members of a liberal arts arts college developed a college-wide course ratings questionnaire. The psychology students, in class exercises and homework assignments, collected data over a 6-month period from peers (n=153) and faculty at every stage of the design process.…

The implementation of the Dallas (Texas) Public Schools 1995-96 Title I PK-2 reading and language arts portfolio entailed monitoring and data collection to determine the student outcomes and the technical quality of the instrument. A total of 2,001 portfolios were reviewed for prekindergarten through grade 2. The components were generally in place…

Disorder and linearity are essential to science, but empirically derived laws indicate that counts do reflect underlying structure and can support inference. Starting from the premise that a linear structure underlies data, G. Rasch deduced that the necessary and sufficient mechanism to convert from counts to linear measures is the logistic ogive.…

The external audit is a way of assessing the trustworthiness of a study, attesting to its dependability from a methodological standpoint and to its confirmability by reviewing the data, analysis, and interpretations and assessing whether the findings represent the data accurately. This paper discusses issues in the audit process, drawing on data…

The three-parameter logistic model discussed was used by CTB/McGraw-Hill in the development of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U (CTBS/U) and the Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS), published in the fall of 1981. The development, standardization, and scoring of the tests are described, particularly as these procedures were influenced by…

The multimethod approach used to collect a assessment data at the local and state levels for the Louisiana Teacher Assessment Program is described. This program develops information about a new teacher's competence that can be used to suggest instructional improvement activities and to decide on qualifications for certification. The first…