Approximately one-third of American freshmen at two-year and four-year colleges require remedial coursework and over 40 percent of employers rate new hires with a high school diploma as "deficient" in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs. Yet, over the past decade, as these students marched through America's public education…

The need for increased exam security, improved test formats, more flexible scheduling, better measurement, and more efficient administrative processes has caused testing agencies to consider converting the administration of their exams from paper-and-pencil to computer-based testing (CBT). Many decisions must be made in order to provide an optimal…

This article sets the stage for the description of a variety of approaches to test reviewing worldwide. It describes the importance of test reviewing as a protection of the public and of society and also the benefits of this activity for test users, who must choose measures to use in particular situations with particular clients at a particular…

Author describes current controversy in England over whether or not personnel trainers should be qualified by standard examinations. He also notes growing consensus" that personnel and training staffs there are behind the times, below standards in other professions and not applying behavioral sciences to industry as fully as possible.…

This paper summarizes the Alabama Career Incentive Program, a statewide effort to evaluate more than 30,000 teachers including specialists in guidance, speech therapy, and so on. The evaluation was based on 10 classroom competencies and five outside-the-class professional competencies. A low-inference instrument measured competencies by using…

The American College Testing Program (ACT) routinely evaluates the fit of its tests to the curriculum of high schools nationwide to ensure that what is being assessed reflects what is being taught as necessary for college success. This report describes the steps ACT has taken to ensure that the content foundations of the ACT Assessment Mathematics…

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Office of Program Evaluation and Research is responsible for providing information for program development and improvement; providing test information to special programs coordinators; and acting as a clearinghouse for all information concerning tests, evaluation methodology, and educational…

An advisory committee representing counselors, curriculum specialists, students, teachers, and community members should participate in selecting standardized tests for school districts. These steps should be followed: (1) identify test purpose in relation to needs and objectives--diagnosis, placement, career guidance, program evaluation; (2)…

Three key terms--social studies, values, and attitudes--are discussed in relation to a national assessment in social studies. Definitions of these terms will affect decisions about what and how to assess. Two major approaches define social studies as: (1) social sciences simplified and adapted for pedagogical purposes; or (2) that portion of the…

A formative evaluation minimum competency test model is examined. The model systematically uses assessment information to support and facilitate program improvement. In terms of the model, four inter-related qualities are essential for a sound testing program. The content validity perspective looks at how well the district has defined competency…

Teacher education is faced with critical problems, including establishing its own credibility. One assumption often made is that other professions do a more creditable job of monitoring those who enter their ranks and that teacher education might profit by emulating those groups who have been presumably more successful. The concept of relicensing…

Alverno College (Wisconsin) defines a curriculum in which all students demonstrate certain major abilities within their disciplines or professional areas, and it assesses those abilities as its primary graduation requirements. The college-wide assessment center has enabled assessment of complex abilities not easily tested through a single course.…

The materials presented were developed for use in a series of conferences on testing and instruction sponsored by the National Institute of Education, with the United States Office of Education, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, and a network of research and development agencies. They are intended for use by school practitioners and…

Three areas of concern for those considering competency-based graduation requirements are discussed. First, what is involved in implementing a competency-based graduation requirement? The first tasks are the specification of performance standards and the performance skill areas. Then, appropriate certification procedures can be selected, and their…

The selection of papers on language testing includes: "Language Testing in the 1990s: How Far Have We Come? How Much Further Have We To Go?" (J. Charles Alderson); "Current Research/Development in Language Testing" (John W. Oller, Jr.); "The Difficulties of Difficulty: Prompts in Writing Assessment" (Liz Hamp-Lyons,…