In preparation for a study of essay questions and other forms of open-ended exercises in the California Golden State Examination for biology, the functioning of open-ended biology items in another examination was explored. The Golden State Examination program offers honors credit to students who wish to qualify for admission to programs in…

Two models were identified for criterion-referenced tests, one based on the assumption of a continuous achievement variable and the other assuming a dichotomous or binary variable. Several test characteristics were examined and contrasted for the two models, including the distribution of scores, establishment of a cutting score, test length, item…

A project was conducted to develop a model for evaluating placement testing in the North Carolina System of Community Colleges. Researchers at Central Piedmont Community College conducted a longitudinal study of students' progress through the college curriculum as it related to placement test scores. The following numbers of students comprised the…