In three lectures, Benjamin D. Wright of the University of Chicago introduces the Rasch model and its basic concepts. The first lecture, March 30, 1994 discusses the model created by Georg Rasch, a Danish mathematician, which Dr. Wright initially saw as merely a way to make raw scores into measures. Eventually, the model developed into a…

This study examined the predictive validity of placement test scores with course grade and retention in English and mathematics classes. An increase in the use of testing to determine student eligibility for community college courses has prompted debate and litigation over the equity, access, and legal implications of these practices. In…

This book attempts to promote improved understanding of assessment concepts by addressing the broad expanse of issues facing educators as they go about their duties and fulfill their responsibilities in schools and classrooms. The chapters in the book address some of the "hot button" issues related to testing and assessment in our nation's…

This paper discusses the measurement of unobservable or latent variables of students and how they contribute to learning in an online environment. It also examines the construct validity of two questionnaires: the College Experience Survey and the Computer Experience Study, which both measure different aspects of student attitudes and behavior…

This book describes how examinations and national assessments can be used to encourage more pedgaogically sound teaching and learning. It provides concrete examples of ways to measure student learning and describes how to develop, score, and interpret tests to ensure that they are valid, reliable, and fair to all children. It offers techniques and…

Educational assessments that exploit advances in technology and cognitive psychology can produce observations and pose student models that outstrip familiar test-theoretic models and analytic methods. Bayesian inference networks (BINs), which include familiar models and techniques as special cases, can be used to manage belief about students'…

This booklet illustrates proven instructional strategies to help teachers help students raise their test scores. Techniques are outlined that will help students improve their communication skills, learn how to mediate their thinking strategies, and understand the best way to attack a question. The advice is developed in the structure of an…

This research project focuses on the problem of the inappropriate assessment of primary grade students. The targeted group was first graders in a suburban elementary school. While taking tests, students revealed a low performance in comparison with their daily performance. They also exhibited frustration and a high stress level. Current research…

In the "Student-Centered Classroom Assessment" textbook, readers are offered many opportunities to reflect on classroom assessment ideas in relation to their own classroom assessment experiences. As a companion to that text, this book of case studies serves the same purposes, but in a way that calls for the application of ideas and strategies…

This book examines the unhealthy and enduring obsession with standardized testing in the United States and how this tool of the meritocracy affects all U.S. residents, from kindergarten to job seeking. Why standardized testing continues to dominate the educational system is explored, as is why standardized testing is such a pervasive influence in…

After speed-reading partisans questioned the criticisms in a Psychology Today article, another psychologist conducted a controlled study of speed readers. As we said before, "Speed Readers Don't Read; They Skim". (Editor)

The present report is concerned with making comparisions between the nature and range of worries recorded by students at a British university and those indicated by New Zealand students, as well as with identifying associated variables such as examination success. (Author)

Article takes a critical look at several of the approaches that have been developed to assess children's progress. Testing, they say, is not sufficient as a method of evaluation. (Author/RK)

Study attempted to determine the extent to which visual perception skills are related to language and general ability in nursery school children. (Author)

This study attempted to answer two questions: should variable or constant grapheme-phoneme correspondence be introduced initially and should paired-associate or conceptual training be used in initial training. (Author/RK)