Despite the prevalence of multiple choice items in educational testing, there is a dearth of empirical evidence for multiple choice item writing rules. The purpose of this study was to expand the base of empirical evidence by examining the use of the "all-of-the-above" option in a multiple choice examination in order to assess how…

The current school reform era has moved through a series of phases, coupling state centralization with a focus on school-level change at each step. Yet this era of reform also has a deeper history. Its deeper history reveals the dynamics that would plague the school reform era until the present day. While the school reform era seemed to focus on…

The accuracy of achievement test score inferences largely depends on the sensitivity of scores to instruction focused on tested objectives. Sensitivity requirements are particularly challenging for standards-based assessments because a variety of plausible instructional differences across classrooms must be detected. For this study, we developed a…

This paper details the motivation, background, and analysis for studying the effect that an Increasing Achievement on Algebra Assessment (IAAA) workshop for a group of Florida high school teachers had on student performance in state-wide testing. The main focus of the workshop was to provide participating teachers with both instruction and…

Article suggested that students must learn through experience to think for themselves and that the College Level Examination Program cannot substitute for that experience. (RK)

This digest discusses the integration of teaching and testing. The use of tests as instructional tools and administrative tools is discussed as well as teacher and administrator attitudes toward testing and teacher competency in interpreting test results. The term "tests" covers standardized tests of achievement and aptitude, less formal…

An annotated list of 11 books, guides, and online information retrieval systems that describe available standardized aptitude and achievement tests, test reviews, databases, and other sources of testing information is provided. The list is designed to help in the identification of useful standardized tests. (TJH)

Stability of performance on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (S-B:4) over a 1-year interval was examined with a sample of 28 nonhandicapped preschoolers. Each child was administered both tests in counterbalanced order and retested in 1 year with either the K-ABC or the…

Discusses many factors involved in determining the complex nature of a child's knowledge base. Includes three kinds of considerations: 1) task-oriented criteria; 2) motivational elements; and 3) the relationship between personality and performance. (Author/CS)

A modification of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts for use with pre-kindergarten children is presented. Guidelines for administration, age norms and information on reliability and validity are provided. (Author)

The ethnic distribution of both the United States and Great Britain is examined to understand England's educational issues in relation to minority groups. Tests were administered to find the differences, if any, in the performance of pupils from minority backgrounds. Charts and tables illustrate the findings of the study. (JR)

Focusing on the use of "paper and pencil" criterion-referenced tests in educational measurement, and to correct misconceptions, the definitions of basic terms and historical antecedents are discussed. Classifications of the tests are compared with other achievement tests. The phases in developing criterion-referenced tests are presented with the…

This report summarizes all Year 11 National Assessment of Educational Progress activities performed under Westinghouse DataScore Systems contracts. The general time frame for DataScore's contract activities runs from March 1979 through October 1980 (with the exception of the Year 10 Art Scoring activities which were projected for February 1981…

Test scores for fall and spring administrations for two consecutive years for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I students in the Tucson Unified School District are presented and compared. The students were given out-of-level tests: the 138 seventh-grade students and 106 eighth-grade students were given Level 2 of the…

DATA WAS COMPILED FROM ENTERING STUDENTS TESTED DURING THE FALL QUARTERS OF 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, AND 1967, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHETHER HIGH SCHOOL PREPARATION (IN FRENCH, GERMAN, AND SPANISH) HAD INCREASED OVER THE 5-YEAR PERIOD AND WHETHER STUDENT PLACEMENT IN UNIVERSITY COURSES HAD SHIFTED SYSTEMATICALLY.…