Criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) are constructed to permit the interpretation of examinee tests performance in relation to a set of well-defined competencies. CRTs are currently used extensively in schools, industry, and the armed services because they provide valuable and different information from norm-referenced tests. Test publishers, school…

Because criterion referenced measurement is a relatively new approach to testing, systematic guidelines for constructing criterion referenced tests (CRTs) have not yet been developed. A number of questions and issues face the test developer who wishes to provide a test that will be helpful in a particular decision-making situation. There are three…

A test for assessing the child's ability to identify territories and their relationship to each other--the Territorial Decentration Test--is discussed. In addition to a description of the test, the administration and scoring of the test and the assignment of score ranges and criterion levels (Territorial Stages) are described. A directions Form…

A detailed analysis of standard setting and criteria for test scores and educational decisions is presented. The author contends that present procedures are in need of re-examination. (JKS)

This fourth report in the 1973-74 series presents a compilation of the scores of Michigan's fourth and seventh grade students who participated in the educational assessment. Results of the objective-referenced test data reveal that while none of the objectives was attained by all of the students, performance levels were quite high for some of the…

As an alternative to a classical test theory basis for criterion-referenced test construction, it is proposed that a strict item-sampling model be used. The computer's role in such a model is outlined. The assumptions of the model are carefully defined and its properties reviewed. The relationship between mastery criteria and such sampling plans…

Discussed are characteristics of criterion referenced reading tests for use with learning disabled (LD) children, and analyzed are the Basic Educational Skills Inventory (BESI), the Prescriptive Reading Inventory (PRI), and the Cooper-McGuire Diagnostic Work-Analysis Test (CooperMcGuire). Criterion referenced tests are defined; and problems in…

In 1982 the Dade County Public Schools (Florida) began developing test item banks for secondary subject areas, because other testing programs have limited utility for assessing the quality of curriculum, instruction, or learning in specific content areas. In May l984, the approximately 17,000 seventh graders enrolled in Life Science and the…

For the first time, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program emphasizes providing classroom teachers with extensive information about the performance of students on selected performance objectives that are tested in the program. This guide was prepared to help educators interpret the information provided for individual students and for…

In the 1973-74 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), new objective-referenced tests measuring some of the state-level minimal mathematics and reading performance objectives were introduced. These tests and the reports of results provided classroom teachers with extensive information about the performance objectives. Tests similar to…

Described is a project to develop child-based measurement scales for assessing the achievement of handicapped children (birth to 8 years old) served by the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) projects. In the first section, steps involved in the development of the Children's Early Education Developmental Inventory (CEEDI) are…

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 explanatory report was prepared to assist educators in the interpretation of the local and school district summary reports provided by the 1973-74 Michigan Educational Assessment Program. Information concerning the interpretation of student and classroom reports was provided in a separate report. The first section of this report describes the…

This explanatory report was prepared to assist educators in the interpretation of the local district and school summary reports provided by the 1974-75 Michigan Educational Assessment Program. Information concerning the interpretation of student and classroom reports was provided in a separate report. The first section of this report describes the…

This report, the second in the 1975-76 series, is directed toward the local school district staff whose responsibility it is to read, interpret, and use the data generated by the Michigan Educational Assessment Program. This report combines in one booklet information that in previous years was contained in two booklets: the Individual Pupil…