The use of the "none-of-the-above" option (NOTA) in 20 college-level multiple-choice tests was evaluated for classes with 100 or more students. Eight academic disciplines were represented, and 295 NOTA and 724 regular test items were used. It appears that the NOTA can be compatible with good classroom measurement. (TJH)

To investigate the psychometric feasibility of replacing a paper-and-pencil licensing examination with a computer-administered test, a validity study was conducted. The computer-administered test (Cadm) was a common set of items for all test takers, distinct from computerized adaptive testing, in which test takers receive items appropriate to…

To investigate the relationship between reading and listening test scores, 3 different sets of listening items accompanied by answer sheets requiring varying amounts of reading were administered to 1,200 students in grades 3 through 8. Listening scores increased as more printed information was added to the answer sheet. (SLD)

Two studies investigated the comparability of scores from paper-and-pencil and computer-administered versions of the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) General Examinations in mathematics and English composition. The first study used a prototype computer-administered version on each examination for 94 students for mathematics and 116 for…

Eighth grade teachers in three local school districts helped customize two standardized norm-referenced tests for ninth graders to investigate effects of deleting some items and adding locally constructed items. Results indicate that percentile ranks for the customized tests could be very different from those for the complete test. (SLD)

A study was conducted to assess the effect of station position in a multiple-stations performance-based examination administered to 127 senior medical students. There was no evidence for a sequence effect on student performance, with no improvement on scores awarded for standardized cases across successive cases in the examination. (SLD)

This paper discusses whether or not revisions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) have created such significant differences between the two tests that a student could conceivably score significantly higher on one than the other. The SAT has been revised to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student…

The original Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) have been among the most popular measures of performance and aptitude of infants. In this study, the construct validity of scores on the Behavior Rating Scale of the revised Bayley Scales, the BSID-II, was investigated using national standardization and clinical samples of children ranging in…

The second International Assessment of Educational Progress focused on the mathematics and science achievement of 13-year-olds. Performance assessments were used as part of the overall assessment in four countries (England, Scotland, Soviet Union, and Taiwan) and five Canadian provinces. The performance assessment approach drew heavily on the…

Test scores were compared for two types of objective achievement tests--multiple choice tests and the recently developed Multi-Digit Test (MDT) procedure. MDT is an approximation of the fill-in-the-blank technique. Students select their answers from long lists of alphabetized terms, with each answer corresponding to a number from 001 to 999. The…

Performance of 156 undergraduate and 48 graduate students on a self-adapted test (SFAT)--students choose the difficulty level of their test items--was compared with performance on a computer-adapted test (CAT). Those taking the SFAT obtained higher ability scores and reported lower posttest state anxiety than did CAT takers. (SLD)

The effects of test performance of differentially written multiple-choice tests and test takers' cognitive style were studied for 47 graduate students and 35 public school and college teachers. Adhering to test-writing item guidelines resulted in mean scores basically the same for two groups of differing cognitive style. (SLD)

Data from the Canadian Test of English for Scholars and Trainees (CanTEST) are compared to data from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to establish CanTEST as a valid admissions tool for English-as-a-Second Language college applicants. Data are taken from four groups of examinees who took both tests. (eight references) (LR)