A comparison of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) indicates that the two should be used interchangeably only with caution and understanding of the differences. While there is a moderate to high correlation between the test scores, nevertheless, the two have distinctly different strengths and…

The factor structure of a new co-normed cognitive and achievement battery for children, the Differential Ability Scales (DAS) was investigated. The DAS was factor analyzed in conjunction with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), and the composite score of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Subjects were 56 six- to…

In this publication, designed to serve interested laymen as well as educators, various authors explore the viewpoints of the proponents and the opponents of the National Assessment Program. In their analysis of assessment and its related issues, these authors attempt to provide information that could serve as a basis for an objective consideration…

Since the emergence of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) there have been calls for improved methods of assessing economics. Oral assessment has been suggested as a possible technique and this study investigated whether it might be used to allow students to demonstrate achievement in GCSE economics. The empirical study compared…

An apparent discrepancy between building level scores in basic skills produced by Pennsylvania's state assessment program (EQA) and building summary scores, generally a grade equivalent, provided by commercial standardized achievement tests is investigated. The impetus for the study came from occasional reports by school administrators that their…

The New Hampshire statewide testing program was implemented to provide a data base for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Title I projects as required by Federal law. To accomplish this objective, achievement and intelligence tests were administered to children in Title I projects and regular programs in four elementary grades--2, 4, 6 and 8.…

How two students with the same number-correct score, calculated by dramatically different patterns of responses, can achieve the same ability estimate is demonstrated. The present study investigated the incidence of person misfit to the model in a nationally standardized test of achievement devised using the Rasch item response theory model. It…

The purpose of this paper is (1) to discuss a set of standards that can be used to evaluate potential assessment instruments; and (2) to use these standards to evaluate the American College Testing Program's College Outcomes Measures Program (ACT-COMP) and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Academic Profile. Using the work of S. Messick (1975,…

Intended as a comprehensive introduction to the construction and use of foreign language tests, this book utilizes modern linguistic knowledge as a base for scientific language testing. Major attention in testing is focused on such integrated language skills as auditory and reading comprehension, speaking, writing, translation, and over-all…

Cognitive differences between 987 LD children and 178 EH children in public schools on a psychoeducational assessment battery were studied, and differences in factor structure were investigated. Caution is suggested in interpreting the results of multivariate statistical analyses, which indicated heterogeneity in the matrices of LD and EH…

The Edmonton Grade III Achievement: 1956-1977 study is a comparison of achievement in reading, arithmetic, and language involving all of the third grade students in a large school system. Six basic skills tests which were administered to all of the Edmonton third grade students in 1956 were reprinted and administered to all of the third grade…

Several issues associated with equating and interpreting reading test scores from two different measures of achievement are discussed. The discussion is based on an investigation assessing the impact of classroom functional/ability grouping on academic performance of 5,439 special educational students in elementary, middle, and high schools. (TJH)

Both on-level and out-of-level tests were administered to third and fifth grade children in order to compare the scaled scores of different level tests of the same testing program and to discover whether the relationship between levels might be distorted by ceiling or floor effects. Only reading tests were used in this study. The Stanford…

Concern was expressed for the possible effects of testing Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I students with norm-referenced tests that may be so difficult that many students will have scores in the chance range. The likelihood of such students obtaining equal scaled scores if they were tested with easier out-of-level tests was…