This report discusses a plan to help Georgia school systems develop their own evaluation instruments for student writing. The report indicates that the use of actual writing samples in assessing writing skills can be valid, reliable, and economical. It includes attachments with sample writing scores from a school, the purposes and statistics that…

To set a standard on the "beardedness" test (see TM 507 062) the probability that a student with a specific score will be judged as bearded must be estimated for each test score. To get an unbiased estimate of that probability, a representative sample of students at each test score level must be chosen. (BW)

Livingston's (TM 507 218) response to Rowley (TM 507 062) is compared with the original Zieky and Livingston formulation of the Contrasting Groups Method of setting standards. (BW)

Explores materials in the ERIC system that discuss all sides of the minimum competency issue. (RL)

Offers opposing views on the value of mass testing in English. (JL)

In order to evaluate standard setting procedures, apart from the more commonly applied approach of simply comparing the derived standards or failure rates across various techniques, this study investigated the errors of classification associated with the contrasting groups procedures. Monte Carlo simulations were employed to produce…

Five methods of equating minimum-competency tests were compared using the Florida Statewide Student Assessment Test, Part II, for 1984 and 1986. Four of five methods yielded essentially comparable results for the highest scoring 84% of the students. Different lengths of anchor items were compared, using the concurrent item response theory equating…

Mounting concern for student achievement in writing has refocused attention on the features of writing assessment necessary to represent a student's skill fairly, usefully and economically. If writing tests are to fulfill their intended function, the writing assignments and evaluative criteria of large scale tests and instruction must interrelate.…

The minimum competency movement's rationale can be reduced to four problem-laden propositions: the state through its schools owes every child an education; a high school graduate should be at least minimally competent; schools should be held accountable for seeing to it that every child meets this standard; and to assure this, every child must be…

In 1978 the New York State Board of Regents initiated action to establish statewide high school graduation standards for reading comprehension. The process began by measuring the readability levels of materials used in core courses and materials that adults normally read (newspapers, news magazines, and feature magazines). To do this,…

This introduction and overview is part of a seven-section report that investigates how individual competence is defined and assessed in the settings of education and work. Following background rationale, the first portion develops a definition of competence as "a characteristic of an individual that underlies effective work performance."…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers assessing basic skills through a set of activities for making professional decisions regarding remediation, individualized learning, and program and course improvements and for making status…