"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

Thirty-eight methods are presented for either setting standards or adjusting them based on an analysis of classification error rates. A trilevel classification scheme is used to categorize the methods, and 10 criteria of technical adequacy and practicability are proposed to evaluate them. (Author/LMO)

The feasibility of using criterion referenced tests (CRTs) in a large-scale evaluation conducted in an effectiveness evaluation context was investigated. The study began by examining the theory that structures the development and validation of CRTs to discover whether, on theoretical grounds alone, CRTs are suitable or not suitable for large-scale…

In considering the problem of measuring achievement for the evaluation of school effectiveness, there are at least three questions that need to be answered: (1) What is to be measured? (2) How is it to be measured? (3) How are the results to be analyzed? Following a discussion related to the first two questions--determining content objectives and…

This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

The effectiveness of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I reading and mathematics laboratories were evaluated to assess the improvement of underachieving elementary school students' academic skills. Laboratory students were selected on the basis of academic (rather than socioeconomic) criteria in grades 2 through 5; the control…

This manual is intended to assist assessment and teaching personnel in assessing and developing instructional plans for special needs students from early school to independent living and employment. It contains 10 chapters. The following topics are discussed in the first nine chapters: the purpose of career assessment; ethical issues…

This publication (in both English and French versions) on learner assessment in workplace literacy programs begins with a discourse on some dimensions of the testing question. It discusses three major approaches to assessment in the broader area of adult literacy that can shed light in the domain of workplace literacy: traditional, competency…

This chapter should not only acquaint the reader with the present state of the art on Criterion-Referenced (CR) measurement but also suggest possible directions for further inquiry. The goal of the first part of this chapter is to deal with the definitional dilemma of CR measurement by proceeding from the more traditional view of CR measurement to…

This book, which is intended for adult educators and human resource developers, presents guidelines for assessing adult learning. The following are among the topics covered in the book's eight chapters: (1) basic principles of informal assessment (relationship between learning and assessment activities; sequencing learning and assessment…