New testing theories, concepts, and psychometric methods (e.g., item response theory, test equating, and item bank) developed during the past several decades have many advantages over previous theories and methods. In spite of their introduction to the field, they have not been fully accepted by physical educators. Further, the manner in which…

Over the past few decades, educators in general, and language teachers in specific, were more inclined towards using testing techniques that resembled real-life language performance. Unlike traditional paper-and-pencil language tests that required test-takers to attempt tests that were based on artificial and contrived language content,…

The teaching performance test is a recently developed assessment technique designed to sharpen our teacher competence evaluation procedures. It assesses a teacher's ability to promote learner mastery of prespecified instructional objectives during a relatively short lesson designed by the teacher. The principal contributions of this paper are the…

Teachers must evaluate, judge, and award grades but all too often they evaluate students merely to submit that time-honored course grade. The use of measurement instruments, their reliability and validity, and the role of instructional objectives are presented in the light of their use in educational evaluation. (DS)

Offers some proven design tips, tools, and criteria for fashioning assessment tasks that are more enticing, feasible, and defensible. Typical tests tend to overassess student "knowledge" and underassess student "know-how with knowledge." Test designers should create authentic simulations rich in contextual detail, devise meaningful tasks, and…

Nonreactive measures for testing students' achievement comprised of questions that ask students to apply procedures, concepts, and facts to real situations. An attempt was made to use such questions in junior high school science classes. These tests provided more diagnostic information than was usually available from normal classroom tests. (PS)

The time demands of authentic tasks and consistent scoring pose technical and practical challenges. Involving teachers in test development and scoring helps them grasp what is expected, gain familiarity with examples of standards-based practice, and discover new ways to assess their students' work. Costs are considerably higher than for…

Teacher educators have been plagued with the problem of devising useful instructional interventions, but often have been unable to assess the quality of their efforts because of the unavailability of satisfactory criterion measures. The application of teaching performance tests as (1) an instructional intervention, and as (2) a formative or…

Most geography teachers are unaccustomed to writing test questions to measure cognitive skills. This paper gives examples of such questions and discusses test design, item classification, and styles of presentation in relation to course objectives. (NH)

Performance assessment is a type of educational assessment in which judgments are made about student knowledge and skills based on observation of student behavior or inspection of student products. In dealing with the issue of fairness in performance assessment, educators are confronted with some dilemmas. Assuring equality in performance…

Provides practical strategies to help physical educators handle too many students, too few instructional minutes, and too little planning time as they try to comply with the continued focus on student assessment. The article discusses assessment design and implementation, offers tips for getting started, and includes samples of assessment tools.…

Presents a matrix showing the types, domains, uses, advantages, and disadvantages of teacher-made paper and pencil and performance evaluation instruments, and considers some of the factors involved in deciding which to use. (CMV)

A set of procedures for validating the Army's Skill Qualification Tests (SQT) are described. Three phases are discussed: (1) the selection of tasks, (2) the selection of specific content for hands-on performance test items, and of written self-evaluation components, and (3) the establishment of content validity of the hands-on component. The task…

The Mathematics Evaluation Materials Package (MEMP)is a set of objectives and companion test items for mathematics education in Grades 4 to 6. The educational objectives are stated in terms of student performance and are coupled with companion test items. In this package are some companion items for objectives that are commonly used for the topic,…