Selection decisions have a major impact on our education, occupation, and quality of life, and the role of standardized tests in selection has always been a source of controversy. Here, I consider various definitions of fairness in measurement and selection--those emerging from within educational measurement and statistics, those from philosophy,…

In a collaborative partnership between a public school district in the northeast United States and university faculty, social-emotional/behavioral (SEB) screening was implemented across the district at three elementary schools serving students in kindergarten through second grade. Although both parents and teachers served as informants in SEB…

College instructors in the United States usually make their own decisions about how to design course exams. Even though summative course exams are well known to be important to student success, we know little about the decision making of instructors when designing course exams. To probe how instructors design exams for introductory biology, we…

There is a priority for schools to address students' social and emotional needs as is done for academic learning. Tiered models of prevention provide a framework for teaching social skills and behavioral expectations, as well as academics, with positive, proactive, evidence-based practices. Central to responding to students' needs is accurate…

There is a priority for schools to address students' social and emotional needs as we do academic learning. Tiered models of prevention provide a framework for teaching social skills and behavioral expectations, as well as academics, with positive, proactive, evidence-based practices. Central to responding to students' needs is accurate…

Psychologists have been an integral part of national security agencies since World War I, when psychological science helped in personnel selection. A robust infrastructure supporting wider applications of psychology to military and intelligence problems developed further during World War II and the years following, primarily in the areas of…

The design, administration, scoring, and results of the 1993 New York State Correctional Captain Examination are described. The examination was administered to 405 candidates. As in previous Sergeant and Lieutenant examinations, candidates also completed latent image written simulation problems and open/closed book multiple choice test components.…

Discusses the usefulness of criterion-referenced tests and norm-referenced tests in gathering data appropriate for decision-making in relation to the basic characteristics of the two types of test, the purposes for which the test information is used, and the kind of information needed for decision-making. (BR)

In this article the author put forward some relatively novel ideas about the nature and purpose of tests and examinations. (Editor/RK)

An Admissions Machine is defined as a sub-set of procedures in a Career Machine which an applicant and an admissions officer can use collaboratively in an interactive interrogation and report system when the applicant expects fair treatment from the admissions officer and the admissions officer trusts the judgment of the applicant concerning the…

The personnel decision principally treated in this paper is that of remedial placement. The decision made with respect to candidates is to accept or reject, and performances by candidates are evaluated as pass or fail. A criterion and a selection variable were assumed, and the problem is to choose a cutting score on the selection variable such…

The document contains seven papers from the Child Assessment Topical Workshop designed to raise participant awareness of basic assessment issues involved in screening, placement, and measurement of daily performance; to provide specific information about the assessment process, including collecting, organizing, analyzing, and using data; and to…

Publications abstracted include Technical Research Reports 1156 and 1157, Technical Research Notes 199 through 210, Research Studies 68-4 through 68-6 and 69-1 through 6910, and Research Memorandums 68-8 through 68-13. Included are descriptions of 19 Work Units covering activities reported in the 33 abstracted publications, a list of regular…

This study attempts to determine the relative power of six factors that might influence decisions of teachers about the content of fourth-grade mathematics: district tests, mandated textbooks, the principal's opinion, and parents' opinions. Sixty-six teachers were presented with descriptions of hypothetical school districts constructed to provide…

This paper discusses the use of assessment instruments at the preschool level and systematically reviews several measurement instruments used with young children. The first section briefly discusses the selection of educational objectives, consideration of alternative methods of collecting information about children, the selection of a specific…