Scores are the most visible and widely used products of a testing program. The choice of score scale has implications for test specifications, equating, and test reliability and validity, as well as for test interpretation. At the same time, the score scale should be viewed as infrastructure likely to require repair at some point. In this report…

A comprehensive review of test practices and recommendations for setting up a district testing program that will meet informational needs. (Editor)

The 1981-82 System-Wide Testing Program (SWT) introduced the initial administrations of the Assessment of Baseline Curriculum Survey and the Language assessment scales. The Basic Objectives Assessment Tests, the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, and District-adopted, norm-referenced tests were continued as implemented in previous years. The…

This paper describes the methods used for revising the Cincinnati Mathematics Inventories, a battery of criterion-referenced tests of basic skills used in the Cincinnati Title III program and other city-wide special programs. Each of these tests is designed to cover a half-year of work; items are included to sample skills listed in the Catalog of…

In 1986 the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation directing the Legislative Research Commission to appoint a special subcommittee, the Special Subcommittee on Essential Skills Testing, to study the Kentucky Essential Skills Testing Program (KEST) and to make recommendations concerning the program. This report presents the findings and…

The Wisconsin Pupil Assessment Program is a testing service which provides the State of Wisconsin with: (1) a measure of student performance in selected academic areas by developing objective-referenced tests in reading, mathematics, economic understanding, and writing; (2) a comparison of Wisconsin public school students to the rest of the nation…

This booklet provides parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers with information about achievement testing which is relevant to their needs. The first section presents an overview of the current market for standardized achievement tests and provides key definitions, distinctions between ability and achievement testing, comparisons of…

The potential use of criterion referenced tests (CRT) and norm referenced tests (NRT) in the same testing program is discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of each are listed, and the best solution, a merging, is proposed. To merge CRTs and NRTs into an overall testing program, meaningful and useful to all levels, consideration must be given…

Tests can be categorized into two major groups: norm-referenced tests (NRTs) and criterion-referenced tests (CRTs). NRTs are designed to highlight achievement differences between and among students to produce a dependable rank order of students across a continuum of achievement from high achievers to low achievers. With NRTs, a representative…

Norm-referenced tests (NRT) help compare the performance of one student with the performances of a large group of students, while criterion-referenced tests (CRT) focus on "what test takers can do and what they know, not how they compare to others" (Anastasi, 1988). Both types of test can be standardized so that scores can be interpreted the same…

A wave of criticism has been leveled at standardized achievement tests of basic skills. Part of the debate concerns the types of tests administered, such as the Standardized/Norm-Referenced tests, Criterion-Referenced tests, Minimum Competency tests, National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, alternatives to standardized tests, IQ tests,…

Norm referenced data were utilized for determining the mastery cutoff score on a criterion referenced test. Once a cutoff score on the norm referenced measure is selected, the cutoff score on the criterion referenced measure becomes that score which maximizes proportion of consistent classifications and proportion of improvement beyond change. (CP)

The Ontario Ministry of Education conducted case studies of the testing programs in nine selected school districts. Results are presented in narrative form on the major study questions: testing program development and organization, the tests administered, uses of test results, and perceived role of the ministry in evaluation programs. (SJL)

This study was undertaken to develop guidelines for making interpretive inferences from scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a norm-referenced test of English-language listening comprehension (LC) and reading (R) skills, about level of ability to use English in face-to-face conversation, indexed by performance in…

This handbook was designed as a referenced guide to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) testing program. Many year-round schools have been created in the district. This has necessitated adjustments in the testing schedule so that all LAUSD students are tested in the same time frame in their educational programs. The handbook was…