Validation research for educational achievement tests is often limited to an examination of intended test score interpretations. This article calls for an expansion of validation research in three dimensions. First, validation must attend to actual test use and its consequences, not just score meaning. Second, validation must attend to unintended…

In this hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry I explore the lived experience of public school teachers teaching amidst the federal law entitled No Child Left Behind. My research question wonders, "What is the lived experience of teaching under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)?" My exploration relies heavily upon the work of Ted…

Conventional testing systems usually give students a score as their test result, but do not show them how to improve their learning performance. Researchers have indicated that students would benefit more if individual learning guidance could be provided. However, most of the existing learning diagnosis models ignore the fact that one concept…

The accuracy of achievement test score inferences largely depends on the sensitivity of scores to instruction focused on tested objectives. Sensitivity requirements are particularly challenging for standards-based assessments because a variety of plausible instructional differences across classrooms must be detected. For this study, we developed a…

Attempts to evaluate the effect of various combinations of traditional instructional methods (TM) and personalized instruction (PSI) on final exam scores. It is hypothesized that groups which received PSI combined with enrichment provided by TM will score significantly higher on their cumulative final exam than students who receive instruction by…

This paper presents guidelines for valid and effective test preparation and presentation. Working on the assumption that teacher secrecy about tests and the subsequent student test-fear are pointless and harmful, this paper outlines some tools for test preparation, such as pretests, teacher file cards as to items covered in class and clearly…

The pedagogy of chemistry education in the Soviet Union is discussed in a series of articles on inculcating social attitudes and ethics in chemistry instruction, teaching methods, school-leaving and higher education entrance examination results, and the role of the chemistry teacher in vocational guidance and instruction. (JH)

This booklet illustrates proven instructional strategies to help teachers help students raise their test scores. Techniques are outlined that will help students improve their communication skills, learn how to mediate their thinking strategies, and understand the best way to attack a question. The advice is developed in the structure of an…

Conclusions reached after three years of performance contracting experience and materials with which to judge the validity of the conclusions are presented in this overview of performance contracting. The conclusions are: (1) commercial firms are no better at teaching children than are public schools; (2) commercial firms expend as much or more…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a study of the stimulus variable of "frame size" and a group of variables reflecting student ability and sex. Individual differences were studied by varying ability, as measured by school grades and a battery of seven "factor tests" of intelligence and…

Year-long case studies of instructional practices in elementary school mathematics were analyzed to describe testing practices of seven teachers in three school districts in Michigan and the uses those teachers made of test results. Focused on were: (1) curriculum-embedded tests (in particular the Management By Objectives system); (2) the use of…

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of providing students with instruction on how to use the information contained in examples and non-examples of disjunctive concepts, and of five different instructional sequences of examples and non-examples. Students (192) enrolled in a mathematics course for prospective elementary teachers served…

Increased student demand for foundations courses, coupled with a lack of qualified staff, made it necessary to provide workable alternatives to traditional instruction. Substantial adjustments could not be made until the efficacy of the new methods could be documented. The study compared cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of two types of classes,…

A computer simulation procedure was developed to reproduce the overall pattern of results obtained in the Educational Testing Service Growth Study. Then simulated data for seven sets of 10,000 to 15,000 cases were analyzed, and findings compared on the basis of correlations between estimated and true growth scores. Findings showed that growth was…

Three methods of instructing third graders about geometric concepts are compared in this study. Methods were all presented in programed instruction packages; but differed in the types of activities incorporated: paper and pencil activities (Treatment W), activities with manipulatives such as geoboard and paper folding (Treatment M), and…