Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are becoming more common in UK psychology departments and the need to assess their reliability is apparent. Having examined the reliability of MCQs in our department we faced many questions from colleagues about why we were examining reliability, what it was that we were doing, and what should be reported when…

Concludes that scores on impromptu in-class papers can reveal improvement in writing skills after one semester of instruction. (DD)

Discusses the problems of readers' different responses to essay test passages and the implications for the subsequent writing assignment. Describes a model of the writing assessment episode and discusses four generalizations about writing task interpretation. (HTH)

Compares the features, learning outcomes tested, reliability, viability, and cost effectiveness of essay tests with those of interpretive tests used in training programs. A case study illustrating how an essay test was converted to an interpretive test and pilot tested is included to illustrate the advantages of interpretive testing. (MBR)

A "modified essay examination" was used to help teach and to assess clinical problem-solving skills with 11 first trimester doctoral students. This examination provided a paper-and-pencil simulation of problems encountered in case management. Students were required to generate hypotheses, formulate questions, discuss issues, and make…

Recent information from established testing programs was used to investigate the nature and limitations of essay and multiple-choice tests of writing ability, the statistical relationship of these types of tests, the performance of population subgroups on each, the possible need of different disciplines for different tests of composition skill,…

Term papers written by 42 students in two subjects were assessed by their classmates and by lecturers in the relevant subjects. No difference occurred between lecturers and students in average marks, variations in marks, agreement in marks (reliability), or relationship between marks and performance in final examinations (validity). (Author/MSE)

The effectiveness of the "read-comp" technique in assessing writing ability and the usefulness of a rubric and procedure devised for scoring read-comp samples and essays were evaluated. Subjects were 100 freshman students enrolled in general and remedial English classes in a 6-week summer session at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.…

This handbook has been prepared to address one specific problem: How can the techniques of program evaluation be effectively applied to produce useful information about the operations and impact of moral education programs in secondary schools? The handbook is divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter describes the background and…

A study examined how pragmatic form influences evaluation of student essays in university placement testing. Specifically, the study documented how patterns in students' use of information (assumed to be either old, inferable, or new for readers) affected the holistic scores for quality given to the essays. Subjects, 99 randomly selected entering…

Comparisons of students' educational performances are usually based on test and examination results. However, for such comparisons to be valid, it is suggested that evaluations must be made on some common basis since many educational and employment decisions are based on these evaluations. Standardized tests, often used when comparisons are to be…

Technical questions regarding the reliability and validity of large-scale portfolio assessment were studied which focused on: (1) whether raters can score collections of writing reliably with rubrics designed for single samples; (2) whether ratings derived from different frameworks differ in their capacities to support technically sound…

Language arts teachers participated in an inservice program, The Writer's Clinic, and evaluated their students' improvement in writing ability using holistic essay scoring techniques. Seventh and eighth grade students were administered an essay composition pretest in December; the same essay topic was given as the post test in May. Students were…

Writing encompasses a wide range of skills, from the mechanics of punctuation and spelling to the systematic or even creative development of ideas. The higher order skills of communication necessarily involve critical thinking and problem solving, and an assessment of the writing of advanced students will be able to encompass these other higher…