The proper preparation of test materials for free scoring is described. An application form for receiving free scoring and ordering forms for the materials required for participation in the mandated testing program in grades 3, 5, 7 and 10 are included. Designed by the Kentucky Department of Education's Office of Research and Planning, the…

The Los Angeles Unified School District has been concerned over the excess testing of elementary school pupils, particularly those who are in special programs. When the Board of Education decided to have yearly testing of pupil progress using a locally developed criterion-referenced test, the intention was to replace a previously used…

Students in about 100 schools in 10 states attend classes 4 days a week, for all or part of the school year. A growing number of rural schools, faced with declining enrollments and diminishing state aid, are experimenting with this schedule. Benefits of the schedule include lower energy and transportation costs and lower absenteeism among students…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) was administered to pupils in Grades 2 through 7, 9 and 11 during the 1979-80 school year as part of the Corvallis School District's testing program. Results of the CTBS, herein expressed as mean (average) percentile rank scores from each of the grades tested, are compared with those of prior years.…

The evaluation of reading in the West Hartford Public Schools is part of a larger evaluation of English/Language Arts. Its purpose is to provide information for program improvement and growth. Using existing data, the reading evaluation focuses on four questions: (1) Does the reading achievement of West Hartford students improve from grade four…

Each year, through its system-wide testing program, the Dallas Independent School District collects and reports assessment data on the achievement of its pupils. The data are summarized in a variety of ways in different reports to meet the needs of a particular audience. The three reports in this year's series were produced by computer, using a…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), Form U were administered to all students in Grades 5, 7, and 9 in the San Diego City Schools during the last two weeks of April, 1983. This report is intended to respond to two primary questions: (1) how are San Diego elementary and junior high students doing relative to the national norm group, and…

This profile summarizes and analyzes data to provide a broad range of educational indicators of the operation and performance of New Mexico's 88 school districts. The profile looks at the dropout rate and student enrollment, including the number of students receiving public assistance, special education, and bilingual education. Also studied are:…

Each spring the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) are administered to grades 5, 8, and 11 throughout New Mexico as part of the State Department of Education mandated assessment program. This report contains information regarding Albuquerque Public Schools' results on the 1982 CTBS. A new form of the CTBS was selected for testing fifth and…

This paper examines long-range problems caused by test-controlled schooling. It looks at the demands of both curricular and accountability uses of tests from the point of view of the urban school district's testing office. On the basis of interviews with 12 New Orleans teachers and the experiences of the authors in working in two large city…

The Portland Public Schools 1984-85 Chapter 1 project included 4 public high schools, 48 public elementary schools, and 14 nonpublic elementary schools. About 6,500 students received supplementary support in basic skills, reading and/or math, in the 66 schools. These schools implemented three types of programs: HOSTS, Prescription Learning System…

During spring 1983, approximately 12,000 students who were enrolled in the court-identified minority-isolated (MI) schools in the San Diego City Schools were administered the appropriate levels of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS). The content areas of reading, language, and mathematics were assessed. In Grades 5, 7, and 9, all…

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)

To compile information on state and school district standardized testing programs, a survey instrument was designed and sent to 135 members of the National Association of Test Directors (NATD). Seventy responses (52%) were received in time to be included in the compilation. Most participating school districts (n=61, 87%) had a program mandated by…

A large school district conducting a revision of its curriculum-based assessment program for grades one through six introduced performance assessments in response to a demand for more authentic assessment associated with national concerns for standards-based educational reform. This study reports validity evidence for the locally developed reading…