Last July, the Atlanta Public Schools became the poster district for teachers and principals behaving badly. State investigators found that, in 44 schools across the city, 178 teachers and administrators had systematically cheated on the state standardized tests taken by their students in 2009. The largest cheating scandal by far has cast a pall…

Vocabulary knowledge has been recognized by researchers as a critical component of reading comprehension, not only as a means to facilitate first language acquisition but also as an integral element in the learning of English as a second or foreign language. To reduce the effect of insufficient vocabulary knowledge during reading, a compensatory…

It can be difficult to find adequate strategies when teaching problem solving in a standard based mathematics classroom. The purpose of this study was to improve students' problem solving skills and attitudes through differentiated instruction when working on lengthy performance tasks in cooperative groups. This action research studied for 15 days…

At the Medical College of Wisconsin, a procedure was developed to allow computerized grading and grade reporting of laboratory practical examinations in the Clinical Human Anatomy course. At the start of the course, first year medical students were given four Lists of Structures. On these lists, numbered items were arranged alphabetically; the…

In this paper, we present two new methods for evaluating students' answerscripts based on the similarity measure between vague sets. The vague marks awarded to the answers in the students' answerscripts are represented by vague sets, where each element u[subscript i] in the universe of discourse U belonging to a vague set is represented by a…

This booklet contains the specially printed answer choices for a written simulation test that is contained in TM 009 785. Only the directions and the section and item numbers are visible until the test takers have indicated their choices. In this test, rather than choosing answers to a fixed set of questions, the test taker chooses questions from…

The conventionally used answer-sheet grid was found to be optimal. (Author/IRT)

Textbooks have more influence than teachers in shaping the curriculum. They set objectives, daily lessons and activities, and influence test questions. Since the text is often the determinant of a course of study, the selection of a text can be a critical task. Consequently, an instrument for measuring the strengths and weaknesses of textbooks is…

An assessment of the differential effect of two pupil response procedures is presented. The two groups, half responding in test booklets, half using answer sheets, were matched by grade and general scholastic aptitude. The score reliabilities did not differ significantly for either pupil response mode. (Author/BB)

The problem of increasing questionnaire saturation experienced by colleges and universities is analyzed. Specific attention is focused upon attitudes toward questionnaires, reasons for nonresponse and factors that might improve the questionnaires, and, hopefully, the response rate. (LBH)

A technique is described for reducing the incidence of cheating on multiple choice exams. One form of the test is used and each item is assigned multiple numbers. Depending upon the instructions given to the class, some students will use the first of each pair of numbers to determine where to place their responses on a separate answer sheet, while…

It was concluded that even with prior practice sessions, above average pupils in grades one and two are unable to utilize separate answer sheets in an effective manner. (AG)

Misreadings of pencil answer marks on test answer sheets by optical scanners cause scoring errors. Twenty-six different pencils were tested for readability differences when optically scanned. Complete light and dark marks scanned perfectly for 18 pencils. Totals for all six mark types ranged from 947 to 1726 out of 1800. (BS)

The purpose of this study was to determine if answer sheet design, particularly a self-scoring answer sheet, was a differential variable of test anxiety. Data for the study was gathered from the administration of pre and post anxiety tests, given in conjunction with an in class psychology exam. Students in the control group used conventional IBM…

College undergraduates (n=38) were administered identical multiple choice tests with randomly presented answer-sheets numbered either vertically or horizontally. Of the originally-scheduled four tests during the semester, tests one and three were retested with entirely different test questions, also multiple choice, resulting in scores from tests,…