Proceedings of the first meeting of the State Advisory Committee for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Quality Education Assessment are provided. The proceedings are comprised of the following: Superintendent's Message; Charge to the Committee; The Plan for Assessing Educational Quality in Pennsylvania; What Will Quality Education Assessment Measure?;…

LDA (Learning Disabilities Association) of Minnesota receives many calls and emails regarding testing accommodations for large-scale testing programs. Callers include the test-takers themselves, parents, teachers, counselors, advocates, and an occasional attorney. The standardized tests they ask about include the GED, SAT and ACT (for college…

The Educational Testing Service Composition Scale was derived from a factor analysis of grades on 300 college freshman compositions, followed by further ratings using the scales with high school papers. This summary provides brief descriptions of the characteristics of student writing rated high, middle, and low on the eight subscales: ideas;…

Education has become one of America's biggest industries. As a result, the public wants some evidence concerning the quality of the educational program. This booklet was written to delineate the role of assessment as an important aspect of a comprehensive accountability system for the nation's elementary and secondary schools. It describes what…

Eight criteria developed by the National Forum on Assessment (Washington, DC) as guidelines for evaluating existing and proposed assessment systems at any level are listed. Criteria call for clear definitions and fair assessments to assist educators and policymakers in improving instruction. Continuous review and improvement are recommended. (SLD)

In spring l977, a five-member team used the Shepard evaluation method to review the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). The team's activities were the initial stage of a complete formative MEAP assessment. The Shepard evaluation method consists of a checklist which provides nearly 50 topics to investigate when conducting an evaluation…

The American College Testing Program (ACT) routinely evaluates the fit of its tests to the curriculum of high schools nationwide to ensure that what is being assessed reflects what is being taught as necessary for college success. This report describes the steps ACT has taken to ensure that the content foundations of the ACT Assessment Mathematics…

This report is an evaluation of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) done by an external advisory panel. Panelists were selected in terms of availability and complementary skills. The program was evaluated by the Shepard method which consists of a checklist grouped into the areas of goals and purposes, technical aspects, management,…

The assertion that Model C is feasible for Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I evaluation, why it is feasible, and reasons why it is so seldom used are explained. Two assumptions must be made to use the special regression model. First, a strict cut-off must be used on the pretest to assign students to Title I and comparison groups. Second,…

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Office of Program Evaluation and Research is responsible for providing information for program development and improvement; providing test information to special programs coordinators; and acting as a clearinghouse for all information concerning tests, evaluation methodology, and educational…

The activities of the Nucleus Testing Committee of the Madison County (Wisconsin) Schools in developing a new student testing program are discussed, and suggestions for the development of appropriate testing procedures are given. An individualized learning packet, developed by the author, using the psychological and educational modalities of…

This is an edited version of the overview chapter from a report on a 1971 survey of state educational assessment programs. The procedures used in carrying out the survey are described, and a number of major trends in the approach to state assessment are discussed. Finally, some of the more important problems encountered by the states in their…

The nature of educational evaluation and its interaction with policy in six state departments of education is examined. Case reports of research and evaluation units are presented for Virginia (by Gerald W. Bracey), Michigan (by David L. Donovan and Stanley A. Rumbaugh), Washington (by Alfred F. Rasp, Jr.), South Carolina (by Paul D. Sandifer),…

This paper traces the history of the College Entrance Examination Board from its beginnings through its operations in 1966. Using materials drawn from various published and unpublished sources both of the Board and of the Educational Testing Service, summary accounts of objectives, formats, manner of administration, scoring, and critical…

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education uses state-developed, criterion-referenced tests for the purpose of evaluating programs funded by Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The agency's efforts to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to use state norms for evaluation purposes are…