Independent schools are, for the most part, exempt from mandatory participation in standardized tests designed for state and federal comparisons, nor are they required to take part in comparative international assessments. The anxiety in the broader culture, however, is driving a growing interest among independent school parents (and prospective…

The California Achievement Test was given each Spring, 1981-1985, to all students in grades kindergarten through 11 in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. The results in reading and mathematics were interpreted in relation to: (1) national norms and point-in-time scores; (2) local students in the same grade in previous years; and (3) gain (or loss),…

A preliminary report on the California Achievement Tests (CAT) performance of students attending the Public School Academy (PSA) in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in 1988-89 is presented. The performance of students in grades 2-4 on the CAT reading comprehension and mathematics computation subtests and the performance of students in grade 4 on the…

Examined 6 widely used grade-8 standardized tests for content, required processes, and level to determine their alignment with the 5-8 NCTM "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards." Concluded that these tests inadequately covered the 5-8 standards. A follow-up study examined items from newly developed and foreign tests to demonstrate the…

A panel of expert referees from the Philadelphia school district categorized items from secondary-level standardized mathematics tests according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) subobjectives for mathematics. The following tests were covered by the study: (1) California Achievement Tests (Levels 19 and 20); (2) Comprehensive…

This study attempts to detect the presence of either of 2 different categories of large-scale bias in 4 widely used mathematics achievement tests: induced bias and norming bias. Subjects were 407 eighth graders. (IAH)

The mathematics components of an elementary school achievement battery were studied for differential item performance between 726 boys and 721 girls taking the California Achievement Test in grades 4, 5, and 6. Overall, no skill classifications, ability levels, or item locations favored one sex group consistently across grades. (SLD)

This study investigated the mathematics achievement test performance of 62 non-transient elementary school learners in accelerated schools using a longitudinal design. Both the California Achievement Test (CAT) and the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test were included in this investigation. In particular, this study sought to…

This report attempts to discover how students think about and use mathematics in open-ended questions. Part I, "Open-ended Questions in Mathematics," describes the rationale for adding open-ended questions to the grade 12 mathematics test of the California Assessment Program (CAP). Part II describes the findings from students' responses…

This study investigates whether a linear factor analytic method commonly used to evaluate violation of the item response theory (IRT) unidimensionality assumption is sensitive to measurable curricular differences within a school district and to examine the possibility of differential item performance for groups of students receiving different…

The construct underlying simple paper-and-pencil logical operations tasks administered to young children in group settings was examined. The logical operations, number concepts, and visual discrimination subtests of the Early School Assessment (ESA) were administered as part of the Fall 1987 national tryout of the ESA. The mathematics concepts and…

A strategy that has been initiated to respond to assertions that out-of-date norms distort standardized achievement test results involves annually updating the norms for achievement tests to avoid the production of inflated scores through aging norms. The effect of the application of normative trend data to the obtained test results in an urban…

In spring 1986, new citywide testing programs in both reading and mathematics were implemented by the New York City Board of Education. In those cases where the test had changed, it was necessary to statistically equate the new tests to the old tests, so that comparisons of equated rather than actual scores could be made during the transitional…

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…

This study investigated the degree to which it was possible to identify students who were likely to fail the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test (ONGPT) from data contained in their academic records. The criterion measure was student scores on the Trial Test of the ONGPT, a measure selected because it provided scores that could be correlated, as…