The proper use of psychological tests requires that the measurement instruments have adequate psychometric properties, such as reliability and validity, and that the professionals who use the instruments have the necessary expertise. In this article, we present the first review of tests published in Spain, carried out with an assessment model…

This monograph has grown out of a series of discussions and a six-month period of reading and reflecting on the literature which were initiated by Fritz Mosher's suggestions to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine the "standards" question. Conversations with Mosher himself and the staff of NAEP have been most…

Sources of confusion about the distinction between process and product measurement are identified, and the effect of the distinction on evaluation quality is shown. Process measurement involves the measure of behavior, performance of a task which generates no products, an independent variable or treatment, use in diagnosing performance, and means.…

This report is the first volume of a projected series of "General Information Yearbooks" to be updated and published annually by the National Assessment of Educational Progress and is designed to aid the readers of the National Assessment's reports to understand the philosophies and goals of the project, its methods for developing…

The use of improvement scores to measure gain or growth in physical education presents serious problems, particularly in terms of units of measurement for the improvement scores. An exponential method is presented which converts increases of different sizes and from different starting points into comparable terms. (JMF)

Available designs and instruments for evaluation are not adequate to meet the varied needs of evaluation. Therefore, evaluation needs to be reshaped in terms of 1) consideration of how and where currently available theories, designs, and instruments are proving useful, 2) identification of needs that cannot be met ith currently available…

Professor Postman is in agreement with Professor Gagne's view that valid measurement of learning outcomes is an essential part of the evaluation of educational systems. The paper stresses that the categorization of outcomes and measuring operations should be regarded as flexible heuristic devices, and that it is desirable to guard against the risk…

Reflecting an increased awareness of the need for comprehensive curriculum evaluation, a monograph series has been initiated, focusing on major aspects of curriculum design and development. This introduction to the series defines curriculum evaluation as the collection, processing, and interpretation of two main kinds of data: (1) The objective…

This article presents the author's rejoinder on commentaries of his article which illustrate the variety of perspectives with which people approach poverty measurement issues. Some of the comments highlight the theoretical concerns underpinning poverty measurement efforts, whereas others focus on empirical considerations. As a social scientist,…

This article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of different types of income poverty measures--absolute, relative, and a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) "quasi-relative" one--and empirically assesses them by tracking their performance over time and across demographic groups. Part of the assessment involves comparing these measures to…

Bibliometrics has come of age and is generally accepted, together with peer review, as one way to describe the activity of players in science. Appealing issues in bibliometrics include the characterization of a growth regime of research systems including the trade-offs of production-visibility; the measure of science-technology linkage and…

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the measurement of child outcomes is the major stumbling block in estimating the extent to which equality of opportunity exists for children in our nation's schools. This paper has three parts. The introduction discusses the concept of equal educational opportunity, as defined and then redefined over the…

Since the use of bibliometric instruments has grown and will continue to grow in the future, the quality, availability, and accessibility of data on publications and citations is of tantamount importance. But equally important is a correct use of the data. This means that an important task of the bibliometric field is to highlight not only what…

The main purpose of this paper is to draw attention to some facts and ideas that perhaps can help to identify problems or fields for development and research within the evaluation of training. Topics for group discussion are preceded by material on some basic concepts of evaluation and educational measurement. The ratio scale, the interval scale,…

This article presents a rejoinder on the commentaries regarding the author's focus article titled, "Measurement of Central Aspects of Scientific Research: Performance, Interdisciplinarity, Structure," structuring comments around a number of main topics discussed by the authors of the commentaries. The author presents technical issues…