The necessity of controlling the order in which trained essay raters for a statewide writing assessment program receive student essays was studied. The underlying theoretical question concerns possible rater bias caused by raters reading long strings of essays of homogeneous quality; this problem is usually referred to as context effect or…

The document discusses the decrease of student scores on the citizenship section of the statewide Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment (EQA). The document presents an overview of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education goals, describes behaviors that EQA measures, and provides sample questions for fifth, eighth, and eleventh-grade…

Under the California Assembly Bill 665 of 1972, the state assessment program must test all students in grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 in reading skills, and those in grades 6 and 12 to assess their skills in effectiveness of written expression, spelling, and mathematics. The state may develop its own tests, and a matrix sampling approach may be used…

As the result of the installation of the Certificate of Secondary Education, some method was needed for examining the student in history, one of the subjects constituting the work for the certificate. This report is the result of a study to define and outline what a part of the larger history exam should be, the individual term paper or…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS/S) was the nationally standardized, norm-referenced test selected for the Idaho Statewide Testing Program for 1976-77. It provided basic skills measures in reading, language, mathematics, total battery, reference skills, science and social studies. Students in the 4th, 8th and 11th grades from 51 of…

Stanford Achievement Test scores of 1,434 elementary-level students already placed in either regular or special education programs were arranged according to four cutoff points: 20th, 15th, 10th, and 5th percentiles. This identification method, setting the cutoff at the 5 percent level, is proposed as a preliminary screening device for special…

Aspects of practical assessment such as question design and management of the assessment are discussed. Reference is made to some of the problems and to the possibilities for innovation as a result of implementing practical assessment of the kind required by the General Certificate of Secondary Education examining groups. (CW)

This report is the sixth analysis of state reports conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to examine the extent to which states publicly report information about students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Descriptions of statewide testing systems are presented and examined as to whether these systems included…

The psychometric properties of the testing tools of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), the state standardized testing program, are examined. Reliability studies have indicated that the scores from the MEAP, ranging from 0.654 to 0.949, are generally acceptable. The State Department of Education offered supporting evidence for the…

All states are addressing the problems of accommodations for English Language Learners (ELL's) in state assessment systems, but Massachusetts is noteworthy for the way in which it handles this problem. Since the early 1980s, over 40 states have created a statewide assessment program. Testing in these states is typically modeled on the National…

This paper describes New Jersey's High School Proficiency Test (HPST) in reading, one of three tests given to all 11th graders as a state graduation requirement. Each reading passage represents one of four test types (narrative, informational, persuasive/argumentative, and workplace). Each passage is followed by multiple-choice items and at least…

This study examined state and national benchmarks and standards for K-12 science instruction, curricular goals, and objectives for K-12 science, state, and national assessments that measure student achievement in science and student use of computers and technology for science in grades K-12. The study used survey data and student achievement…

This paper provides an historical perspective on the content of the SAT. The review begins at the beginning, when the first College Board SAT (the Scholastic Aptitude Test) was administered to 8,040 students on June 23, 1926. At that time, the SAT consisted of nine subtests: Definitions, Arithmetical Problems, Classification, Artificial Language,…

The Learning Outcome Testing Program of the West Virginia Department of Education is designed to provide public school teachers/administrators with test questions matching learning outcomes. The approach, software selection, results of pilot tests with teachers in 13 sites, and development of test items for item banks are described. (SLD)

Presents a review of developments in aesthetic education and discipline-based education and their impact on art education. Asserts that current trends and events suggest that major changes in art education could occur. Concludes that standardized testing of art learning is one possible result. (CFR)