Students are assessed by coursework and/or exams, all of which are marked by assessors (markers). Student and marker performances are then subject to end-of-session board of examiner handling and analysis. This occurs annually and is the basis for evaluating students but also the wider learning and teaching efficiency of an academic institution.…

The OECD and its U.S. administrator, McGraw-Hill Education CTB, have recently concluded the first cycle of the OECD-Test for Schools in the U.S. This test is being marketed to local schools and is designed to compare 15-year-olds from individual participating schools against peers nationally and internationally using the OECD's PISA test as its…

The ranking of the United States in major international tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is used as the driving force and rationale for the current educational reforms in the United…

Many postsecondary institutions currently administer standardized tests of general college outcomes; more than a quarter of Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) member institutions do so. Using standardized tests for accountability purposes has been contentious mainly because these tests do not measure every important…

Item response theory (IRT) methods are generally used to create score scales for large-scale tests. Research has shown that IRT scales are stable across groups and over time. Most studies have focused on items that are dichotomously scored. Now Rasch and other IRT models are used to create scales for tests that include polytomously scored items.…

In this research investigation of score comparability for language minority students (English language learners [ELLs] and former English language learners), we examined 3 indicators of score comparability (reliability, internal test structure, and differential item functioning) for 4th and 8th grade students who took the NCLB-mandated content…

This study explored the relationship between reading and achievement on a science standardized test. A nonfiction reading subtest and the science section of the Connecticut Academic Performance Test were compared for Grade 10 students at 3 Connecticut high schools. Results showed a moderate-to-strong positive relationship between the variables.…

Many colleges and university's use SAT math scores or math placement tests to place students in the appropriate math course. This study compares the use of math placement scores and SAT scores for 188 freshman students. The student's grades and faculty observations were analyzed to determine if the SAT scores and/or college math assessment scores…

Increasingly, academic institutions are being required to improve the validity of the assessment process; unfortunately, often this is at the expense of reliability. In medical schools (such as Leeds), standardized tests of clinical skills, such as "Objective Structured Clinical Examinations" (OSCEs) are widely used to assess clinical…

Recommends moratorium on testing minority group members with existing standardized measuring instruments, a reassessment of the validity of standardized tests and an appraisal of testing practices with minority groups whose cultural backgrounds vary significantly from that of the middle class white norm. (Author)

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is widely used to screen university applicants for whom English is not their native language. Although the cutoff scores vary, in Ontario those with scores much lower than 550 are rarely admitted to any university. Two exceptions are the University of Western Ontario and its affiliate, Brescia…

Standardization of the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) on 288 babies raning in age from two to 54 weeks in Yucatan, Mexico, yielded such findings as that subtest scores increased with age, and that the DDST failed to identify a "questionable" 16 or 17 babies with borderline scores on the Bayley Motor Scale. (Author/MC)

Based on material prepared for the California Assessment Program, an argument in favor of authentic assessment is presented, and authentic assessment is contrasted with traditional standardized tests. An assessment is authentic when student performance on intellectual tasks is directly examined. Comparatively, traditional assessment relies on…

A SOCIOMETRIC TEST WAS USED TO COMPARE THE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE OF MENTAL RETARDATES IN THE GRADE SCHOOL SPECIAL CLASSES AND THE REGULAR CLASSES. MODIFIED SYRACUSE SCALES OF SOCIAL RELATIONS (SSSR) WERE ADMINISTERED IN TEST-RETEST DESIGN TO 400 CHILDREN. AN EXAMINATION WAS MADE OF THE FOUR SPECIAL NEEDS SCALES. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE DATA…

A refined and extended analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach was used to investigate the pattern of relationships among arithmetic ability; reading ability; and general ability as assessed by teacher ratings and standardized tests, over a three-year period, with 54 educable mentally retarded children, initially 12 years old. (Author)