This is the second of three volumes designed to cover the problems and issues of developing and managing a school assessment program. The series offers guidelines and illustrations of several special aspects of assessment programs, such as administering tests and documenting their results. This volume deals with the planning of assessment…

A poorly designed data processing system in a school district testing office may cause a delay in the creation of test results, produce inaccurate results, or utilize more resources than are necessary. Therefore, the authors present a model of a data processing system as a basis for comparing systems in terms of the basic functions they must…

This list of audiovisual materials on educational testing and assessment has been compiled from a variety of sources; the primary source was the National Information Center for Educational Media's Index to 16mm Educational Films, 1977 edition. Although the items are annotated, no attempt was made to review or to endorse any of the materials…

Despite research conducted on the testing of minorities, little attention has been given to the issue of the race and training of the test administrator, i.e., the psychometrist or school psychologist. Black children in the present educational system are most often faced with examiners who are culturally, socially, and economically different from…

A national sample of 3,300 elementary and secondary school teachers, who had recently administered the Metropolitan Achievement Tests in their classrooms, responded to a questionnaire concerning various standardized achievement test issues. Teachers gave their opinion on: the amount of such testing in their schools; personal use of test results;…

This list of tests was compiled as a reference for those persons responsible for the planning of testing programs or evaluation. Although it is not intended to be all-inclusive, 12 reading readiness, 15 reading achievement, 9 diagnostic, and 10 achievement batteries are described. Two programs of supplementary materials are mentioned. Information…

This article presents views of proponents and opponents to standardized tests, isolates the major weakness of testing--questionable validity--and offers several recommendations for the betterment of test development and use. Some major misuses of tests include the following: (a) tests are at times administered with no clear purpose; (b) test…

More suitable criteria was needed to evaluate "mature" students or those over 21 who had not completed all senior matriculation requirements for admission to the University of Lethbridge. This study was designed to compare the performance of "mature" students and several groups of regularly admitted freshmen on the College…

Incorporated in the media evaluation model developed by the Computer Based Project (Syracuse, N.Y.) is a procedure whereby independent samples are used to obtain baseline responses to cognitive question items. Items from two films are intermixed and presented after showing only one of the films; thus, the sample audience responds to questions from…

The accuracy of estimating test means for groups of twelfth-grade students by the item-sampling technique was examined. The subjects were from 35 twelfth-grade schools participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Mathematical Abilities. Half of the students in each school were assigned to a treatment condition where they took a complete…

Traditionally, tests in the language arts have focused on the mechanical skills of reading, writing, and spelling. The problems which have arisen because of tests which measure reading and composing ability without ever requiring the child to actually read or compose have been compounded by teachers' tendencies to turn children away from books by…

Presents research findings on several aspects of multiple-choice testing: (1) Effect of guessing; (2) Effect of changing the initial response; (3) Effect of item order alteration; (4) Optimum number of chores; (5) Position response set; and (6) Assessment of partial knowledge. (HM)

The decline in scholastic aptitude test ( SAT) scores does not signify that the quality of education is lower. To interpret this decline requires an understanding of the testing process, changing racial and sex mix of the test makers, changing lifestyle of youth, and the increase in the number of students taking the SAT. (Author/AM)

Thirty-nine normal pre-school and 48 older mentally handicapped children of similar vocabulary age were tested on a sentence comprehension test under three different presentation conditions. Results showed that presentation conditions did not affect normal children, but mentally handicapped children were adversely affected by the condition in…

This analysis serves mostly to point towards some possible productive research areas giving priority to areas that are more easily manageable politically. These are more commonly located within the school context. (Author/AM)