To realize the dividends from the relationship between testing and teaching, teacher and administrator preparation and inservice training must be redesigned so that professionals are equipped to interpret results from norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests designed by experts. (JOW)

"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…

Criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) are constructed to permit the interpretation of examinee tests performance in relation to a set of well-defined competencies. CRTs are currently used extensively in schools, industry, and the armed services because they provide valuable and different information from norm-referenced tests. Test publishers, school…

The construction of test items, the purposes of testing and criterion-referenced testing are topics debated by two researchers. (CP)

Examines the extent to which grades derived from a conventional norm-referenced examination can be interpreted in terms of criterion-referenced performance assessments of different abilities and skills. Results suggest that performance is more affected by test format and subject matter than by the intellectual abilities tested by them. (JOW)

Author claimed and defended the position that none of the tests used in educational measurement is optimum for its role in program assessment. As well, he described the type of test he thought best for the task of assessment. (Author/RK)

The use of the regression equation derived from the Anglo-American sample to predict grades of Mexican-American students resulted in overprediction. An examination of the standardized regression weights revealed a significant difference in the weight given to the Scholastic Aptitude Test Mathematics Score. (Author/BB)

It has been argued that item variance and test variance are not necessary characteristics for criterion-referenced tests, although they are necessary for norm-referenced tests. This position is in error because it considers sample statistics as the criteria for evaluating items and tests. Within a particular sample, an item or test may have no…

An attempt toward the development of a criterion-referenced test as a joint project of the Puerto Rican Division of Evaluation and the Mathematics Program in the Department of Education is discussed. The approach used included the following steps: (1) clarification of objectives, (2) development of test items for each objective, (3) development of…

Item mappings are widely used in educational assessment for applications such as test administration (through test form assembly and computer assisted testing) and for criterion-referenced (CR) interpretation of test scores or scale anchoring. Item mappings are also used to construct ordered item booklets in the CTB/McGraw Hill Bookmark standard…

By noting that a Rasch or two parameter logistic (2PL) item belongs to the exponential family of random variables and that the probability density function (pdf) of the correct response (X=1) and the incorrect response (X=0) are symmetric with respect to the vertical line at the item location, it is shown that the conjugate prior for ability is…

A unified framework for validating criterion-referenced test (CRT) interpretation is proposed. Using functional literacy as an illustration, the instructional outcomes assessed are called achievement constructs, and described in psychological and behavioral terms. The proposed construct validation methods can yield tests more closely linked to…

Much of the content was presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 1971, and is derived from the author's dissertation Experimental Steps to Ascertain Reliability of Diagnostic Tests in English as a Second Language" (Columbia University). (VM)

On the basis of the characteristics of criterion-referenced tests, the contribution of German research to the development and application of criterion-referenced tests is discussed. (PN)