Reasonable and practical solutions to two major problems confronting the developer of any test of educational achievement (what to measure and how to measure it) are proposed, defended, and defined. (Author/PN)

Three standard assessment instruments (Rorschach, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and 16PF) were administered to 12 participating Rosebud Sioux Indians--6 males, 6 females. Reports were generated for each instrument. Consensual and unique concepts contained in all the reports were analyzed in order to describe the contents. Six judges, all…

Basic precepts for test development are described and explained as they are presented in measurement textbooks commonly used in the fields of education and psychology. The five building blocks discussed as the foundation of well-constructed tests are: (1) specification of purpose; (2) standard conditions; (3) consistency; (4) validity; and (5)…

The use of objective tests in higher education, both as an additional dimension to examinations and as part of the teaching and learning process, is considered. Specific concerns are the characteristics, functions, and limitations and the appropriate systems of organization and management of tests. The following types of objective items are…

Can students' writing ability really be assessed by standardized, objective tests? This question is explored here along with a discussion of the alternatives and advice for principals to help their English and language arts teachers confront the issue. (Author/TE)

Describes an experiment conducted by the English department at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in which a brief essay written at home was used to help place incoming freshmen in appropriate writing classes. (JL)

Work on the development of history performance assessments is described. So far, six complete sets of assessments in United States history have been developed as part of this project. Students are first assessed on their historical knowledge of the period through a short-answer test. They are then asked to write an essay explaining the positions…

Standardized tests of writing ability have individual and shared limitations and deficiencies that should be acknowledged by test designers and users. Most institutions use the portions of standardized tests that test ability to proofread and edit, but they do not use the optional essay sections that actually require students to write. To assure…

This book for college faculty provides a resource for developing, using, and grading classroom exams. The first chapter addresses ways to determine what content should be included on an exam. The second chapter identifies testing considerations such as number of exams, difficulty level of items, and test length. Chapters 3 and 4 provide guidelines…