The present study examined how information about different grading systems affects students' course expectations, particularly in ways that may have downstream consequences for learning and other academic outcomes. In an online experiment using a preregistered design, we prompted two samples of current and recent college students (N = 547) with a…

Thorndike (1969) proposed a three P theory of faculty grading orientations (FGOs) -- "perfection", "peers", and "potential", also known as Criterion-, Norm, and Self-referenced FGOs in the literature. Using data from a 2014 faculty survey I examined the responses of 1,742 faculty at 18 four-year, primarily teaching…

Increasing numbers of states have incorporated measures of students' academic growth into their data and accountability policies. Measuring growth is a statistically complicated task and complex growth measures can be easy to misinterpret. This paper reports on a survey of 317 Massachusetts principals' understanding of the Student Growth…

This guide attempts to address an aspect of secondary CTE (Career and Technical Education) that has received little attention; the assessment literacy of educators. School leaders need to go beyond ensuring routine compliance with external and internal regulatory forces to identify ways in which CTE program teachers might better understand…

This module describes a method for weighting various measures of student achievement, such as examinations and home assignments, in order to combine these measures into a final grade. Standard deviation methods receive extensive attention. (TJH)

The relationship between classical discrimination indices (CDI) and criterion-referenced discrimination indices (CRDI) and the appropriateness of each for use on criterion-referenced tests are investigated. A CRDI is proposed that attempts to separate those who master material from those who do not master material. A 26 item multiple-choice…

As one in a series of test items collections developed by the Assessment and Evaluation Unit of the Directorate of Studies, the guide gives a wide range of questions and activities for the manipulation of scientific equipment to allow assessment of students' practical laboratory skills. Instructions are given to make norm-referenced or…

This experiment was designed to assess the ability of item writers to construct truly parallel tests based on a "duplicate-construction experiment" in which Cronbach argues that if the universe description and sampling are ideally refined, the two independently constructed tests will be entirely equivalent, and that within the limits of item…

Guidelines for evaluation of school programs in the State of Florida are presented. The purpose of evaluation is to modify the content and method of instruction, provide information to decision-makers and the public, provide feedback to participants, and determine criteria for program success. The optimal evaluation design for either innovative or…

This handbook exists to assist the staff of a Springfield, Illinois school district in implementing the district assessment program and to assist other local school units in developing and assessing an implementation program. Chapter 1 presents information on the philosophical and pragmatic background of comprehensive assessment programs, with…

A survey to gather information concerning school district testing programs in Pennsylvania is reviewed. The information concerns the commercially produced norm referenced and criterion referenced achievement tests, as well as locally produced achievement tests used in the state's school districts. The Pennsylvania Division of Educational Testing…

Designed to serve as an introductory manual to mastery testing in science, this guide provides basic information about a variety of related topics such as mastery learning, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced testing, how to develop a mastery test, when and how to use a mastery test, limitations of mastery tests, and a list of mastery tests…

This manual is designed to accompany Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) elementary school reports to assist in their interpretation and understanding. The normative sample is described as stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administration procedures are summarized. The cognitive and non-cognitive areas…

This manual is designed to accompany Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) secondary school reports to assist in their interpretation and understanding. The normative sample is described as stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administration procedures are summarized. The cognitive and non-cognitive areas…

This manual is designed to accompany Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) intermediate school reports to assist in their interpretation and understanding. The normative sample is described as stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administration procedures are summarized. The cognitive and non-cognitive areas…