Most standardized testing programs do not furnish examples of the kinds of information young people actually know. Instead they indicate only (1) how far an individual student is above or below an average score, and (2) the average score of a classroom or a school in relation to others. In contrast, National Assessment evaluates educational…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has focused attention on improving the academic achievement of all students, including more than 6 million students with disabilities and requires that all students be assessed. Students with disabilities may be included through accommodations, such as extended time, or alternate assessments, such as teacher…

A systematic analysis of student assessment data from Maine and Kentucky, using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data and state and local assessment results, was conducted to address issues of measurement and attribution involved in evaluating systemic school reform. This paper (1) examines ways to cope with the challenges of…

Discusses the design and scoring of the writing proficiency exam conducted at San Francisco State University. Explains the program's counseling system for those students who do not pass the proficiency exam. (HTH)

The influx of veterans into higher education after World War II led to the development of a monumental system for testing and evaluation of prior learning through military service. The assumptions of the process continue to have implications for the assessment of adult life experience and its integration in college curricula. (SK)

There has been no piece of education legislation in the past decade that has stirred so much comment and controversy as the No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110; Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 2001). This comprehensive law is designed to ensure quality education for all students, particularly those at risk for academic problems…

Divided into two sections, this report describes research on the range and degree of assessment of students' communication skills in colleges and universities and includes the following findings: (1) of the 384 respondents from college speech communication departments, 45 reported using large-scale, uniform testing of students; (2) these…

The manual describes the differences between low-inference observation and rating scales when evaluating teachers. Procedures for observing are set forth. The body of the manual defines and exemplifies the 115 items used on the observation instrument as well as the use of two other instruments used before and after the observation, i.e., the…

This paper presents two examples of how methodological research in testing and evaluation simultaneously served the needs of both researchers and practitioners. The first example focuses on Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) research in writing assessment. This research investigated issues in domain definition, cognitive processing…

In an ongoing experiment in the basic public speaking course at Miami University (Ohio), an attempt has been made to devise a testing approach that preserves the viability of the evaluation process and, at the same time, is efficient to administer and acceptable to students as a measure of what they have learned while performing. The alteration of…

Proposes a plan by which medical students could take a final examination 80 percent of the way through a course, allowing students to learn in their own way with more efficient use of teacher time and less stress of terminal exams because all students would have two chances without penalty. (JT)

The Basic Skills Assessment (BSA) is a national secondary level testing program which provides secure tests in reading, writing, and mathematics. It is designed to identify students who need additional instruction in the basic skills so they may be helped to reach the school district's secondary school graduation requirements. One of the BSA's…

A developed abilities performance battery (DAP) has been constructed based on the Project Talent Survey to serve two major functions in the guidance area of Project Plan. The first function is to enable teacher, parent, and student to realistically evaluate the student's present level of developed performance ability. The second function of DAP…

This bibliography of evaluation instruments of health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors may be of assistance to those persons who are undertaking testing programs and it may also serve to point out the need for additional well-developed test instruments. The tests listed in this bibliography have not been evaluated or screened. Knowledge tests…

The establishment of an open admissions policy necessitated an evaluative procedure to identify groups requiring remedial instruction and to assist in estimating budgeting and staffing needs. This study was undertaken, therefore, to select tests in reading and mathematics which would: (1) discriminate adequately between non-college and college…