Higher education's ability to retain students through to graduation appears to be an international challenge. This is also the case in South Africa where only 27% of student complete their studies in minimum time and where 55% are unlikely to ever graduate. These challenges have meant that extended degree programmes, where degrees are formally…

Standards-based score reports interpret test performance with reference to cut scores defining categories like "below basic," "proficient," or "master." This article first develops a conceptual framework for validity arguments supporting such interpretations, then presents three applications. Two of these serve to introduce new standard-setting…

The Maryland State Department of Education issued a request for proposals to develop a score reporting system for the Maryland Functional Testing Program. RMC Research Corporation conducted a literature review of extant literature and developed a national survey of non-norm-referenced test score reporting practices. This comprehensive analysis of…

Standards, passing scores, or cut scores have been seen as an element of criterion-referenced tests since their introduction. This paper discusses at least two issues surrounding the establishment of cut scores which appear to need clarification: (1) the theoretical definition of a cut score; and (2) decisions which must be made in selecting a…

This guide is designed to help parents gain a better understanding of testing and its role in the education of their children. It answers the following questions: (1) What are standardized tests? (2) What do standardized test scores tell me about my child? (3) How are standardized test scores used? (4) What are the limitations of standardized…

The Florida Statewide Assessment Program, defined by the 1976 Educational Accountability Act, collects and disseminates information on the effectiveness of its school systems to help its students achieve minimum performance standards (MPS) in mathematics, reading, and writing tasks. The 1980-81 regular assessment involved approximately 460,000…

This booklet is designed to help parents gain a better understanding of testing and its role in the education of their children. Answers to questions concerning the different types of tests given in schools, differences among these tests, how test results are used, what test scores mean and how the scores affect students are provided. Several…

Increasing numbers of state-mandated testing programs have resulted in the selection of norm-referenced tests (NRTs) for statewide assessment. Adaptation or customization of existing tests has become a viable solution for individual programs. Changes in test instruments have arisen from the behaviorist approach and mastery learning, minimum…

This guide describes the background of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) program, objectives, and tests. It is designed to assist school personnel in reading and comprehending the student information contained in student performance data included in TABS reports. TABS is a criterion-referenced measure for assessment of student…

In July 1984, the Texas Legislature mandated the criterion-referenced tests designed to assess minimum basic competencies in mathematics, reading, and writing. During the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Education Agency instituted the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) program to measure student competencies at grades 1, 3, 5,…

This study explores the use of the modified caution index (MCI) for identifying judges whose patterns of recommendations suggest that their judgments might be based on incomplete information, flawed reasoning, or inattention to their standard-setting tasks. It also examines the effect on test standards and passing rates when the test standards of…

The Kansas Minimum Competency Tests (KMCT) were designed to provide information about student performance on selected minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. The KMCT were criterion referenced tests in which each item was keyed to a minimum competency objective; student performance was measured against a predetermined standard. The tests…

The South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) was established by South Carolina legislation enacted in 1978. This report describes BSAP implementation and test results for 1984-85 as prescribed in the legislation. As the schedule for this academic year required, the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB) was administered to all…

This publication (in both English and French versions) on learner assessment in workplace literacy programs begins with a discourse on some dimensions of the testing question. It discusses three major approaches to assessment in the broader area of adult literacy that can shed light in the domain of workplace literacy: traditional, competency…