This study was conducted in the FL English class of a typical Spanish secondary school. The students translated a short L1 Spanish text into FL English orally as a class, with accompanying dictionary glosses, before writing it down individually. This collaborative translation was supported by the teacher, and any lexical items that were not known…

A Monte Carlo approach is proposed, using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) programming language, for estimating reliability coefficients in generalizability theory studies. Test scores are generated by a probabilistic model that considers the probability for a person with a given ability score to answer an item with a given difficulty…

As performance-based assessments have gained wider use, there are increasing concerns about their dependability. This study is a synthesis of existing studies regarding the reliability or generalizability of performance assessments. The meta-analysis involves summarizing, examining, and evaluating research findings. Articles on the dependability…

This digest offers principles of performance assessment as an alternative to norm-referenced tests. The definition of performance assessment developed by the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology and Assessment is given, common features are listed, and the terms "performance" and "authentic" are defined. Suggested guidelines for…

The Test of Phonological Awareness (TOPA) was developed to help identify children who are delayed in their development of phonological awareness. Research supports the theory that children with poor phonological awareness are at risk of later reading difficulties. Children who score in the bottom quartile of the TOPA are considered to be at risk…

This study was conducted with three purposes in mind: (1) to determine the utility of the Colwell Music Achievement Test 3 (MAT3) as an instrument for measuring student instrumental music achievement; (2) to determine the types of musical achievement exhibited by students in Tennessee's secondary music programs; and (3) to determine the utility of…

Modified Parallel Analysis (MPA) is a heuristic method for assessing "approximate unidimensionality" of item pools. It compares the second eigenvalue of the observed correlation matrix with the corresponding eigenvalue extracted from a "parallel" matrix generated by a unidimensional and locally independent model. Revised…

A study examined classroom teachers' and remedial reading teachers' perceptions and knowledge about assessment of disabled readers. Surveys were returned by 198 teachers chosen randomly from the membership roll of the International Reading Association. Twenty-nine nonrespondents were contacted by phone and responded orally: no significant…

The psychometric objections to using essays and other subjective tests for measurement can be overcome by a many-facet Rasch model. This model enables judge-awarded grades to be transformed from their arbitrary, local, non-linear rating scale form into linear measures with explicit generalizable meaning of specifiable reliability (standard error)…

Traditionally, coping and adaptation have been considered synonymous in individual's responses to illness and other stressful situations. The Illness Adaptation Scale (IAS) is a 12-item instrument which was designed to assess adaptational outcomes in illness situations as well as four coping modes (instrumental-self oriented, instrumental-other…

Although the Classroom Observation Scales (COS), which measures general process variables stressed in previous classroom research, showed good stability across years and across contexts within years, they did not show the numbers and kinds of relationships with student learning gains expected on the basis of previous research. (Author/BJG)

Article suggested that students must learn through experience to think for themselves and that the College Level Examination Program cannot substitute for that experience. (RK)

The article considers: (1) three fundamental principles for measurement, (2) facts about typewriting and stenographic skills that bear on their measurement, (3) recommendations for testing in accord with those facts and with basic measurement principles, and (4) the establishment of standards and modes of scoring and grading. (Author)

In the Spring 2003 issue of "Harvard Educational Review," Roy Freedle stated that the SAT® is both culturally and statistically biased, and he proposed a solution to ameliorate this bias. His claims, which garnered national attention, were based on serious errors in his analysis. We begin our analyses by assessing the psychometric…