This book, designed as an introductory text in educational measurement, presents comprehensive and balanced coverage of all aspects of assessment relevant to classroom teachers, including construction and use of paper-and-pencil and alternative assessments. This edition expands the coverage of alternative assessments and includes a chapter on the…

This paper considers the influence of the values and the discourse behaviors of the native-speaking assessor as interlocutor. These variables in the assessments of oral proficiency interrelate in complex ways with features of test design such as tasks, prompts, topics, guidelines, and assessor training. This paper reviews some previous studies,…

In order to make an intelligent advance in any school practice a knowledge of what schools are doing in that practice is almost indispensable, since a transition in procedures must be a growth from the one to the other. This bulletin gives this background of facts concerning the use of tests and examinations by the different subject departments in…

Describes a set of Science Reasoning Tasks which are valid and reliable for assessing the ability of children to use concrete and formal reasoning strategies and can be used by science teachers without professional training in Piagetian studies. Thirty pupils can be tested on each task in about 50 minutes. (Author/DS)

The New Jersey State Department of Education is implementing a program to evaluate every school on its basic skills instruction, improvement plans, and legal compliance. Unsatisfactory schools face labeling and a comprehensive program review. This article outlines the state plan and the New Jersey Education Association's objections to it. (SJL)

Empirical findings lend credence to the postulation that differences among teachers regarding content knowledge ( being more pronounced in the upper grades regarding cognitive attainment of course specific content), instructional skills, and teaching experience do result in cognitive attainment differences among classes of learners. (Author/RL)

A liberal interpretation of Section 151 of Public Law 93-380, to implement effective local evaluation of Title I programs, is supported. Weaknesses are cited: (1) nationwide impact data, (2) unsound aggregation of Title I achievement gains, and (3) lack of consideration of alternative evaluation methods. (MH)

Describes the comparative approach to system evaluation used in a project which administered an online retrieval test to an experimental online catalog to produce data for evaluating effectiveness of a new subject access design. Discusses efforts used to ensure data reliability, and strategies the researchers can use to improve on the data…

Discusses summative and formative evaluation methods used and problems encountered in the study of LOGICLANDIA, a courseware package for the teaching and learning of predicate logic in Italian secondary schools. The evaluation process had three phases: subjective, in-house prototypes, and field testing. Results produced revisions in courseware…

Using a sci-fi matchmaking scenario to illustrate the fallibility of technology, this article discusses the practice of reducing a student to a series of test scores for gifted identification. The limits of testing are addressed, and student performance and behavior are urged as additional categories for identifying aptitude and achievement.…

Provides information to parents about tests and assessments used to evaluate their children in school. Performance assessments, such as portfolios, are increasingly used to measure students' ability to do actual tasks. However, standardized aptitude and achievement tests still have a major influence on what students are taught. (SM)

Consistent with person-centered planning, a video CD-ROM program was used to help youth with disabilities identify job preferences. The program was administered to 56 participants (ages 14-22) at 60-day intervals. Results indicated that selections of general work conditions were highly consistent, whereas selections of specific job choices were…

Nineteen learning-disabled and 10 emotionally disturbed pupils, aged 8-15, were assigned randomly to computer-assisted curriculum-based measurement (CBM), pen and paper CBM, and contrast groups. CBM students exhibited more specific knowledge of their spelling goals and felt they received more frequent and more graphic displays of performance…

Suggests an evaluative model for assessing the quality of a music program that asks questions concerning goals and objectives, leadership of the program, staffing, curriculum and scheduling, instructional materials, and learning outcomes. Advocates the guidelines proposed by the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in assessing what…

The passage of Public Law 99-457 has both quantitative and qualitative implications for assessment. Educators working with infants and young children must become more familiar with assessment strategies and limitations including psychometrically sound assessment of complex and controversial family variables, and health and environmental risk…