New Meridian Corporation has developed the "Quality Testing Standards and Criteria for Comparability Claims" (QTS). The goal of the QTS is to provide guidance to states that are interested in including content from the New Meridian item bank and intend to make comparability claims with "other assessments" that include New…

New Meridian Corporation has developed the "Quality Testing Standards and Criteria for Comparability Claims" (QTS). The goal of the QTS is to provide guidance to states that are interested in including content from the New Meridian item bank and intend to make comparability claims with "other assessments" that include New…

This "Guide" is an update to the State Guide to Universally Designed Assessments produced by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in 2006 (Johnstone et al.). It provides a brief overview of what a universally designed assessment is, followed by a set of steps for states to consider when designing and developing, or…

This report provides 10 lessons about how to ensure inclusive assessment practices for students with disabilities and English learners. In addition to the 10 lessons, it provides foundational information on the characteristics of these students that require consideration during all phases of assessment design, development, and implementation. The…

New Meridian Corporation has developed the "Quality Testing Standards and Criteria for Comparability Claims" (QTS) to provide guidance to states that are interested in including New Meridian content and would like to either keep reporting scores on the New Meridian Scale or use the New Meridian performance levels; that is, the state…

These guidelines describe considerations relevant to the assessment of test takers in or across countries or regions that are linguistically or culturally diverse. The guidelines were developed by a committee of experts to help inform test developers, psychometricians, test users, and test administrators about fairness issues in support of the…

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is the fifth in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) secondary longitudinal studies. The core research questions for HSLS:09 explore secondary to postsecondary transition plans and the evolution of those plans; the paths into and out of science, technology, engineering,…

Guidelines for test developers and users are provided to insure that construction and selection of test instruments are conducted fairly. In addition to development and selection, issues of interpretation of scores; provision of information to test takers; and prevention of test bias based on race, gender, or ethnicity are addressed. Twenty-one…

The manual provides vocational educators with information and guidelines regarding the design and use of questionnaires and interviews for gathering data and the construction, tabulation, and analysis of both open ended and forced response survey instruments. The first of nine chapters deals with surveys as a data collection technique, discusses…

Three types of test bias are discussed: content bias, atmosphere bias, and use bias. While much concern has been expressed about the content of tests or the atmosphere in which they are given, it is more important to focus on how tests are used in making decisions about people. Four models of test use are defined: regression model, constant ratio…

This guide is a compilation of factors considered important in the selection of tests for bilingual/bicultural programs. It is intended for use by test selectors or teachers in bilingual education, and does not presume to be exhaustive or authoritative. Basically the guide consists of questions the test selector or teacher should ask when…

This revised manual for the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) discusses: (1) historical development; (2) item analysis; (3) factor analysis; (4) physical format; (5) general working population norms (ages 18-54); (6) intercorrelations of raw GATB test scores and of GATB aptitude scores; (7) development of norms for specific occupations (tables…

This guide to improving cross-cultural communication is the second part of a four-part series addressing the essential characteristics of effective instruction that have a positive impact on the academic achievement of Black and Hispanic students. Since schools tend to reflect the norms and values of the majority culture, cultural…

This guide first points out the difficulty and the lack of reliability involved in using tests to evaluate the abilities of children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. Suggestions are then given for using existing evaluation techniques to test the English language proficiency of children at kindergarten level. The following…

What is language proficiency? How does it interact with culture, human development, learning, and schooling? How can teachers best support English language learners (ELLs) and speakers of different English dialects? What are the current views of literacy acquisition and best approaches to literacy instruction? And how can assessments eliminate…