Language programs need multiple test forms for secure administrations and effective placement decisions, but can they have confidence that scores on alternate test forms have the same meaning? In large-scale testing programs, various equating methods are available to ensure the comparability of forms. The choice of equating method is informed by…

This report consists of three sections, the first of which is a discussion of placement testing. It is maintained that the strengths and weaknesses of a tested population cannot be determined by a single composite test--yet, many institutions place students in beginning courses on the basis of such limited information. To assess basic capabilities…

The New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) was instituted in 1978 as a proficiency examination designed to measure the reading, writing, and mathematics skills of students entering college. In spring and summer 1982, 51,135 students at New Jersey's state and county colleges and at 10 independent colleges took the NJCBSPT. Of…

Whether the time limits of the Academic Assessment Placement Program (AAPP) Reading Comprehension Test of the State Board of Regents (SBR) of Tennessee provide fair treatment for all underprepared students was assessed. Focus was on studying various response patterns and completion rates that indicate whether or not speededness (SP) is critical.…

The report reviews recent arguments for directing attention to suitability for a linguistic course of study. A first step in that direction, a Verbal Reasoning Test composed and tried out in the 1975 student selection for English, is described, and the results of this experiment, involving 1046 candidates, are given. The Verbal Reasoning Test is…

A battery of mathematics tests was developed to predict: (1) student success on the mathematics subtest of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), basic skills tests required upon entry into public colleges or universities in Texas; and (2) student readiness for college level mathematics. The developed tests were intended to provide universities…

This article describes the placement testing program, the use of microcomputer software for scoring and analyzing test results, and the integration of the computerized test results into a comprehensive microcomputer-based student information system at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). UCI offers placement tests in five academic fields:…