My point of departure in this essay is that student approaches to assessment appear to have become more instrumental, and that there has been a correlative propensity in my teaching practice to "teach to the test". Hence, both learners and teachers seem to have become more strategic in relation to assessment. This situation, I argue, is…

Standardizing aspects of assessments has long been recognized as a tactic to help make evaluations of examinees fair. It reduces variation in irrelevant aspects of testing procedures that could advantage some examinees and disadvantage others. However, recent attention to making assessment accessible to a more diverse population of students…

This handbook is designed as a quick reference for first-year teachers who find themselves in an assessment driven environment with little experience to help make sense of the language, underlying philosophy, or organizational structure of the assessment system. The handbook begins with advice on developing and evaluating effective learning…

Three kinds of instructionally sensitive achievement tests are described which provide useful information on formal schooling proficiencies: placement, progress, and attainment tests. Procedures to design, develop, and empirically verify attainment and placement tests are presented. The methodology is designed to ensure that the test instruments…

This booklet was developed to help teachers evaluate student courses. It is not intended to provide the basis for a total evaluation, but as a "quick and easy" method to describe the basis of awarding student grades; identify ways in which to evaluate the effectiveness of a course of study; analyze the cognitive levels of test items; list the real…

This module, one of a series of 127 performance-based teacher education learning packages focusing upon specific professional competencies of vocational education teachers, deals with assessing student performance of psychomotor skills. Included in the module are learning experiences that address the following topics: important considerations…

The five papers included in this collection illustrate the current concerns of those involved in the development and implementation of assessment procedures. A one year in-course assessment procedure conducted at Leicester University is described, including the advantages and disadvantages of the procedure. The problems of interpreting the results…

The corpus of descriptive terminology associated with achievement testing has expanded considerably in recent years, in large part due to the heightened interest in absolute and/or direct metrics for interpreting test performance plus the development of more rigorous strategies for specifying test content. Widely prevalent disagreement about…

This work views assessment as one component in the educational triad of: curriculum planning, instruction based on planned curriculum, and assessment of student learning resulting from instruction. Models are given for assessment of learning through observed and recorded evidences. Strategies assess learned behavior activities in visual analysis,…

The development and refinement of the measures of student achievement in reading and mathematics for the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study are described. The concept of reactivity to instruction is introduced: the tests used to evaluate instructional processes must be sensitive indicators of classroom learning overtime. Data collection activities…

State and school district testing activities involving basic reading competency requirements are discussed. The purposes of minimum competency testing in reading include the identification of students who need remedial assistance, and the evaluation of secondary school students regarding graduation requirements. Important considerations regarding…

Designed for current and future occupational instructors, counselors, and administrators, the comprehensive measurement text is directed toward all subject areas in occupational education--industrial, business/distributive, home economics, agriculture, health occupations, and personal/public services. It offers necessary guidelines to select,…