This study examined performance of a simulated computerized adaptive test that was designed to help direct the development of a medical recertification examination. The item pool consisted of 229 single-best-answer items from a random sample of 3,000 examinees, calibrated using the two-parameter logistic model. Examinees' responses were known. For…

The level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computer adaptive tests (CATs) was compared to decisions based on paper-and-pencil tests. Subjects included 645 medical technology students from 238 educational programs across the country. The tests used in this study constituted part of the subjects' review for the certification…

The University of Pennsylvania's foreign language requirement self-study resulted in re-evaluation of the existing language program. It revealed that most freshmen were not exempted from college second language study by standardized test scores and that the university's required courses were not producing the desired results. These findings…

LaGuardia Community College (LGCC) has recently initiated work on the development of a comprehensive system for computer storage, processing, and analysis of data pertaining to student performance, demography, and attitudes. This system is not yet wholly operative, but many of its components have been developed. This report presents the findings…

This comprehensive report of an 18-month ESEA/Title III study outlines the recommendations of the project staff regarding the establishment of a secondary level educational park as a preventive strategy for meeting emergent educational, vocational, ethnic, and societal demands in a school district with 11,000 students enrolled in seven high…

A study of the non-punitive grading system at Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) was undertaken to assess the impact on student performance of X (assigned in lieu of F), W (withdrawal), and I (incomplete) grades, and other institutions' perceptions and use of these grades in considering KVCC transfer students for admission. KVCC Student…

This report describes various components of the process of disaggregating student achievement data and provides examples of each component. Information is provided to allow school districts to conduct their own school effectiveness evaluation. Results of the California Achievement Tests form one of the bases of the analysis. The underlying…

Instruction can be systematically designed using the procedures, or model, set forth in this handbook. Steps are given for writing, selecting, and organizing behavioral objectives and for identifying their levels. Test construction, testing, and grading are explained. Flowcharts illustrate how to determine required competencies and actual entering…

The information presented in this report was drawn from a 1973-74 school year survey of school programs and administrative practices that was mailed to all 567 school systems enrolling 12,000 or more pupils and to a stratified random sample of 702 systems enrolling 300 to 11,999 pupils. After reporting that the overwhelming majority of the…

This proposal focuses on the grading system used for preservice student teachers in the Faculty of Education's certificate and degree programs at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A rationale for an appraisal system with finer delineations than the existing pass-fail system is presented. This rationale is based on the beliefs that standards of quality…

After reviewing the controversy over traditional grading systems, the pros and cons of various grading systems, and recent practices in reporting and marking pupil progress, the authors present the results of a survey in which 341 districts responded about their reporting and marking practices. The results are broken down by the size of the…

After reviewing the controversy over traditional grading systems, the pros and cons of various grading systems, and recent practices in reporting and marking pupil progress, this report presents the results of a survey in which 341 districts responded about their reporting and marking practices. The results are broken down by the size of the…

High school and college grades are suggested to have the nature of ordinal scales rather than interval scales; hence the median is the appropriate and preferred average, rather than the mean. The use of a median grade point average has some of the major advantages of pass-fail grading. Assuming grades to be ordinal rather than interval data…

The effect on passing scores of providing judges with pass/fail data for the various possible cut-off score levels was studied. Passing scores produced by individual judges using a modified version of the procedure of W. H. Angoff (1971) were compared with the same judges' passing scores as revised after considering information on the number of…

A central problem for the user of domain-referenced tests in instruction is deciding who has passed and who has failed. Two procedures were presented and discussed. The first, employing classical test theory, was found to be more useful for larger domains and where the passing standard is 70 percent or less. The sampling procedure suggested by…