The original data strategy on which PISA was based suggested that, after the completion of the first three assessments in 2000, 2003 and 2006, the cycle would repeat itself with three-yearly assessments in the areas of reading, mathematics and science. However, in light of newly emerging policy priorities and the experience gained with PISA so…

Evaluating the comparability of a test administered in different languages is a difficult, if not impossible, task. Comparisons are problematic because observed differences in test performance between groups who take different language versions of a test could be due to a difference in difficulty between the tests, to cultural differences in test…

Provides data and discussion about the effect of different kinds of testing upon the distribution of scores for racial minorities. Also considers the issue of direct versus indirect measures of writing ability and the place of usage testing in the measurement of writing ability. (RL)

Contrasts or comparisons can be used to investigate specific differences between means. Contrasts, as explained by B. Thompson (1985, 1994) are coding vectors that mathematically express hypotheses. The most basic categories of contrasts are planned and unplanned. The purpose of this paper is to explain the relative advantages of using planned…

The results of a study of find alternative techniques for testing distributional normality are presented. A group of statistical techniques--some established and some new--were compared using empirical techniques. One new technique which appears to have higher power than the Lilliefors test was subjected to a better definition. Distributions under…

Compares three prevalent techniques used in classifying drug addicts. (Author)

A new test for increasing or decreasing trend in a set of observations is presented. Rather than making specific paired comparisons, as in the Cox and Stuart tests for trend, the user of the new test makes the comparisons of all possible pairs of observations. (Author)

A comparative study of first-grade reading instructional methods was undertaken with the support of the Granite School District Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction. This study was conducted in 19 schools of the district and involved approximately 1,295 students. Nine hypotheses concerning the various approaches used in reading instruction…

The main thesis of this paper is that testing is now ready for a major effort to create a synthesis out of what has hitherto been a series of unrelated approaches to testing. The paper proposes the methods of Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment as three very different approaches to the problem of testing, and discusses their characteristics. It…

The purpose of this paper is to prove that one currently recommended method of obtaining the reliability of an instrument defined on a population of aggregate units is invalid. This method randomly splits the aggregate into two halves, correlates the two half unit scores by a Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, and corrects the…

A series of independent, normally distributed events may be broken into intervals on an a priori basis. Then, within interval variance may be compared to among interval variance. These might be considered short-term and long-term variances. This concept and a test for comparing variances are presented. (Author/JKS)

Two potentially useful tests for homogeneity of variance--the jackknife test and the Box test--are described and compared. Recommendations for the use of these techniques and computational examples of each are provided. (Author/JKS)

An independent testing laboratory reveals the results of comparative studies done on vinyl flooring and the question of to wax or not to wax'' and which waxes work best with what flooring; and provides six evaluation tips on floor strippers. (EA)

The G Index is the difference between the frequencies of the homonymly assigned cells and heteronymly assigned cells in a four-fold contingency table. (Author/MB)