Increasingly, teacher educators recommend authentic, performance-related measures for evaluating teacher candidates. Nevertheless, more states are requiring teachers to pass high-stakes, minimum-competency exams. This study examined the relation between teacher candidate scores on authentic measures and their scores on certification exams required…

On Nevada's minimum competency arithmetic test (Grade 11) 58% of Native American students passed compared to 84% of Whites. Surveys of Nevada educators indicated that performance of Indian students could be improved by remediation, individualized instruction, unbiased texts, occupational counseling, and cultural sensitivity on the part of all…

The 1986 scores from the Statewide Student Assessment Test-II, a minimum-competency test required for high school graduation in Florida, were placed on the scale of the 1984 scores from that test using five different equating procedures: (1) linear method; (2) Rasch model; (3) three-parameter item response theory (IRT)--concurrent method; (4)…

A basic tenet of information literacy programs is that the skills needed to use computers and the skills needed to find and evaluate information are two separate sets of skills. Outside the library this is not always the view. The claim is sometimes made that information skills are acquired by learning computer skills. All that is needed is a…

Results of a minimum competency test administered to ninth-grade students were evaluated to compare the performance of 723 students (345 males, 347 females, and 31 unidentified students) on content-specific and process skill questions. Subjects represented a random sample of students taking the Regents Competency Test in Science--a 70-item…

Presents the preliminary results of a comparison of Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) and conventional testing of English competency for students with limited English proficiency. The CAT procedure, which uses computers and a measurement theory known as Item Response Theory (IRT), provides several benefits that traditional paper and pencil…

The presence and extent of overlap between checklist and written scores using data for over 400 medical students in 6 classes on an examination including clinical encounter stations with standardized patients were studied. Eighty-three cases used both measures. Written scores provide information in addition to that of the checklists. (SLD)

A study was conducted to determine whether increased test-taking time on a college-level achievement test would differentially increase scores for selected subgroups of community college sophomores. The study sample consisted of 181 Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) students who were classified on the basis of native language, ethnic group, and…

College seniors--129 who were 25 years of age or older, and 734 younger students were administered the objective portion of the American College Testing (ACT) College Outcomes Measures Project (COMP) test. The total COMP scores and subscores were compared for the two groups, as well as their entering ACT scores and grade-point averages using…

This paper contains a comparison of descriptive information based on analyses of pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The test is composed of three subject tests: Reading, Mathematics, and Language. The study was intended to validate the test development procedure by comparing difficulty levels…

This study was designed to examine the extent to which Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) constructing meaning scores correlate with Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) reading scores and with performance on ITBS items dealing with literal meaning, inferences, and generalizations. In addition, this study assessed the ability of the IGAP reading…

This progress report describes the development and field testing of the School Mastery of Reading Test (SMRT). The SMRT was administered in May 1986 to 889 fourth graders in nine schools in Brooklyn, New York. Counts of students tested in each school and school profile data are provided. Machine scoring procedures are detailed, and results…

This paper compares descriptive information based on analyses of the pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The AHSGE, a product of decisions made in 1977 and 1984 by the Alabama State Board of Education, is composed of subject tests in reading, mathematics, and language. The pass score for each…

The Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) of reading, mathematics, and writing are three separate tests designed to measure basic proficiency in these areas. In response to a mandate from the State Legislature, the Minnesota Board of Teaching adopted these tests, developed by the Educational Testing Service. An evaluation of the 3 years of…

This report summarizes results of student achievement in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) on the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests in 1986-87. Major findings indicate the following: (1) 99.4% of AISD seniors to graduate in May 1987 passed the Exit-Level TEAMS tests, with only 17 denied diplomas in…