Describes the rationale underlying computerized adaptive testing (CAT), discusses the psychometric and technical developments which make it practical, and reviews some previous work which has shaped the current state of the art. The possible advantages, constraints, and operational requirements, and possible areas of application are examined.…

This article describes a number of problems every educational measurement specialist should be prepared to confront before using microcomputers to support test-related activities, including problems with hardware, with software, and with implementing a system. It concludes with a checklist for planning a microcomputer application. (BW)

This report reviews the historical development of out-of-level testing, from its inception in Title I evaluation work during the 1960s, to the present day when the widespread use of assessments or district and school accountability has been combined with requirements for including all students in assessments. This report examines the historical…

This paper critically reviews methods of pupil assessment at the beginning, during and at the end of the second cycle of secondary education. It notes a trend towards more global assessment based on a mixture of external and internal, periodic and terminal, subjective and objective tests. (Editor)

The association of anxiety and medical students' performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Part I Examination was investigated. The Debilitating Anxiety Scale was completed by 62 second-year medical students before taking the NBME Examination. Debilitating test anxiety has been described as anxiety that interferes with test…

It is essential that testing personnel devise methods to communicate understandable and usable information about the effects of schooling to the public. (Author)

This article (in French with no translation) describes the development and evaluation of tests designed for French-speaking students in Ontario. (MBM)

The effect of humor in the classroom was explored by comparing the performance of third and fifth grade students who worked on a humorous test with that of students who worked on a nonhumorous test. Humor depressed third graders' performance but had positive and negative effects on fifth graders' performance. (Author)

This paper discusses the quality of tests with respect to their different uses. Standardized tests are defined as standardized procedures for eliciting responses from individuals, and these form the basis for some sort of appraisal. They can include intelligence tests, achievement tests, school readiness tests, and self concept measures. Oscar…

AT THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY REGIONAL CAMPUS AT FORT WAYNE, 171 FRESHMAN STUDIED A UNIT ON "STIMULUS AND RESPONSE" IN A MODIFIED FORM OF THE PROGRAMING STYLE CALLED "CONVERSATIONAL CHAINING," IN WHICH THE ONLY RESPONSE CONFIRMATION IS PROVIDED WITHIN THE NEXT FRAME IN THE PROGRAM. THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC EMPHASIS SUCH AS CAPITALIZATION, BUT ALWAYS AN…

The purpose of the pre-school assessment program described is to improve the first grade curriculum and make it more meaningful to all students through early identification of strengths and weaknesses, coupled with appropriate follow up activities. Children (340) entering the Rockdale County, Georgia, first grade in the fall of 1968 completed a…

The application of a well-known and fairly simple information retrieval technology to the process of testing undergraduate college students is described. The Computerized Test Library allows the student and/or the professor to extract questions of varying difficulty covering whatever topic the student is studying; if the student performs at the…

This report was requested by the Lunenburg, Massachusetts Public Schools through the Merrimack Education Center. Under the agreement with the Center, the consultant, with the assistance of several associates, evaluated the statewide program in the town of Lunenburg. Objectives were to determine the system's total evaluation needs from an…

Authors are officials at the Education Department of the National Union of Teachers and have been monitoring the policies of LEAs concerning testing and assessment in schools. Here is their report. (Editor/RK)

A formula for converting raw test scores to refined, more meaningful scores is presented. Formula scores are easily computed. (SD)