Background: The pedagogical and status implications of assessment in physical education (PE) have been recognised in the past. How students perceive being assessed and graded is a neglected area, however. While some studies have garnered students' perceptions of assessment when no grade is awarded or the stakes are relatively low, we know less…

Author attempted to call attention to some serious problems with respect to the general goals of education, and to suggest that these problems are left untouched by most of the newer developments in the specification of educational objectives. (Author/RK)

The author began his education career committed to curriculum, not measurement. After years of using teacher-made and standardized tests as instructional afterthoughts, he recognized the superiority of criterion-referenced testing and the influence of high-stakes testing on instruction. He then became involved with developing such tests on a…

A properly chosen test model defines the kind of dependence of the observable behavior on underlying abilities of the persons tested in the form of a data-adequate theory. The limitations and potential of several test models are detailed; and they are critically compared as an aspect of empirical evaluation. (Author/MV)

What should be known about this testing technique - where the tests come from, who uses them, how they use them, and why. (Author)

This article first describes the growing trend of using criterion referenced tests, and then explores the need for setting standards for these types of tests. (RC)

Because criterion referenced measurement is a relatively new approach to testing, systematic guidelines for constructing criterion referenced tests (CRTs) have not yet been developed. A number of questions and issues face the test developer who wishes to provide a test that will be helpful in a particular decision-making situation. There are three…

Clearly stated educational objectives can help in educational evaluation. Because objectives sans assessment are little more than rhetoric, criterion-referenced tests are advocated for assessing objective-attainment. Performance standards are viewed as appropriately separable from objectives. Five guidelines regarding objectives are suggested for…

Criterion referenced measurement is one method which can be utilized to evaluate the learner's achievement of the objectives of continuing education programs and an invaluable mechanism whereby program effectiveness can be evaluated. How to set up an instructional module using a criterion referenced base (subject matter, objectives, test…

The fifteen critical steps involved in writing instructional programs are described, along with an example. (MS)

This is one of the outcomes of the work of the Massachusetts Evaluation Service Center for Occupational Education (ESCOE). Automobile mechanics was selected as a test development area because of the uniqueness of its curriculum, being controlled by the automobile manufacturers through competitive design and redesign of their products. Because of…

The 1970s has become the time for reevaluating the intended purposes of tests, and for considering meaningful alternatives to the test score. Author considers the criterion-referenced versus the norm-referenced test. (Author/RK)