What type of items, keyed positively or negatively, makes social-emotional skill or personality scales more valid? The present study examines the different criterion validities of true- and false-keyed items, before and after correction for acquiescence. The sample included 12,987 children and adolescents from 425 schools of the State of São Paulo…

Increasing numbers of students are applying to university with the International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE), an alternative to mainstream qualifications based on a biblically-based, individualised curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). No formal validity arguments exist for the ICCE, but it claims to prepare…

Objectives: To evaluate an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) adapted for social work in a lab course and examine the degree to which it predicts competence in the practicum. Method: 125 Masters students participated in a one-scenario OSCE and wrote responses to standardized reflection questions. OSCE performance and reflections were…

Two quantitative measures of school performance are currently used, the average points score (APS) at Key Stage 2 and value-added (VA), which measures the rate of academic improvement between Key Stage 1 and 2. These figures are used by parents and the Office for Standards in Education to make judgements and comparisons. However, simple…

Introduction: For decades, prior to the inception of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was the only vehicle through which states could assess the progress of their students using a common metric. Now, 45 states, 4 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have adopted the CCSS to…

The benefits of using essay tests rather than objective tests in professional education programs are discussed. Essay tests offer practice in writing, creativity and formal communications. Guidelines for using and scoring a sample essay test in biology are presented. (BH)

With an annual yearly growth rate of 9.3 percent over the last two decades, Advanced Placement courses have become a juggernaut in American high school education. AP courses are routinely perceived as an indicator of educational rigor, and many schools push to enroll low-income or minority students in these courses in the hope of preparing them…

The Intermediate Form of the Educational Quality Assessment Inventory (EQUI) for grades 7 and 9 is designed to provide Commonwealth schools with reliable information about student development in each of the 10 education goals. The EQAI measures the students' attitudes, values, beliefs, habits and basic cognitive skills. This manual, organized in…

The objectives of this booklet are to provide suggestions, procedures, and rules of thumb to aid the evaluator in using achievement tests in program evaluation. It also discusses some of the theories underlying the procedures for developing and selecting achievement tests and interpreting their results. Each of the six chapters offers advice on…

Conventional achievement tests rank students in relation to each other. New assessment tests reflect what schools are trying to teach and how they are succeeding for representative geographic, age, racial, and socioeconomic groups. (Editor) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Program Description.

Examines the present grading system, including its purposes, usefulness and failures, and presents some alternative systems. (RC)

Theoretical, technical, and practical charges which have been made against the IQ test in recent years are examined. Teachers need to be aware of these issues, since IQ testing directly affects perceptions of, and planning for, their students. (RM)

An investigation of the General Educational Development (GED) tests is presented. Objectives of the investigation include: (1) to assess the validity of the tests for admission of nonhigh-school graduates to higher education, (2) to describe the backgrounds and experiences of nontraditional students who enroll in college on the basis of their GED…

This study was designed to examine the validity of the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test (CRCT), Form 1A, for advisement purposes. During the period under study, February 1967 through September 1969, 1,020 people took the test, and 39 percent of those tested enrolled at Hofstra University. CRCT scores on the average differentiated those who…

Considered the impact of intelligence testing upon Spanish speaking children and the relationship between the classroom environment and bilingual students' social background. (Author/RK)