Why has large-scale standardised testing attracted such a bad press? Why has pedagogic benefit to be derived from test results been downplayed? The paper investigates this question by first surveying the pros and cons of testing in the literature, and goes on to examine educators' responses to standardised, large-scale tests in a sample of low…

In an Angoff standard setting procedure, judges estimate the probability that a hypothetical randomly selected minimally competent candidate will answer correctly each item in the test. In many cases, these item performance estimates are made twice, with information shared with the panelists between estimates. Especially for long tests, this…

Results of the administration in 1971 of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Survey D, Form 1M, to 5,480 fifth grade pupils of Vancouver schools are reported and compared with results obtained with the same test administered in 1968. The test results, which are presented in four tables, indicate that the 1971 students performed slightly better in…

The administration of the National Test-Equating Study in Reading is described as part of a symposium on the study. After contacts with each of the State Departments of Education, district and LEA superintendents were asked to consider the participation of randomly selected schools within their jurisdictions. Upon receipt of approval, school…

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states were invited in June 1984 to participate in a project with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to assess the reading achievement of eleventh grade students. Florida, Tennessee and Virginia accepted and worked with SREB and NAEP staff to develop and administer the testing program.…

The focus of this study was to assess the 17-year-olds' ability to read functional reading tasks and to provide change if and where needed. This was a project between the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin High Schools (MFHS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the area of reading. Two hundred fourteen 17-year-olds were randomly…

This report presents the results of various standardized measures administered to Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) students and control students in the school year 1975-1976. In contrast to previous comparisons, KEEP employed more rigorous procedures for the selection of the control students and for the conditions of test administration.…

The California Assessment Program (CAP) collects a wide range of achievement and demographic data to help local schools and districts improve their instructional programs. Tests in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, history-social science and science designed by California educators are administered to students in grades 3, 6, 8, and…

This paper reports on a pilot study conducted to determine the possible use of the cloze procedure as a substitute measure of achievement in a second-year Spanish culture and civilization class. Twenty students enrolled in a third-semester Spanish class at the University of Colorado were simultaneously given multiple choice tests and cloze tests…

In the spring of 1988, Massachusetts conducted its second Educational Assessment Program to assess the performance of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students' responses to open-ended questions in one form of the reading test were studied. One-twelfth of the fourth-graders, one-sixteenth of the…

Spring 1984 achievement test results for court-identified, minority isolated (MI) schools in the San Diego Unified School District are reported. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) were used to measure progress in the areas of reading, language, and mathematics. Language and math scores trended upwards across grades; reading also…

A comparison of achievement and personal adjustment of Spanish-speaking students in an experimental bilingual school environment at the first grade level was the purpose of the Harlandale instructional project. This evaluation report presents comparative data from the testing program used to establish the effectiveness of bilingual education when…

The Nevada Proficiency Examination Program was established by legislative mandate in 1977. It consists of two major assessment efforts: administration of a nationally normed test to grades 3, 6, and 9; and the testing of all 11th graders in reading, writing, and mathematics. Students must pass all three examinations as a precondition for receiving…

Two studies investigated the performance of Florida high school seniors on the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests). The GED Test Battery, as revised in 1980, consists of 290 items in 5 subject areas (writing, social studies, science, reading, and mathematics). In the first study, the performance of 1,200 Florida students was…