A study of general student performance in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland undertaken in 1975 is described, and efforts toward developing a new system of school-leaving examinations are discussed. The study was designed to assess existing student evaluation instruments, create new evaluation techniques and instruments, promote cooperation…

Placement testing programs are generally designed to place students into courses for which they are best prepared, to reduce administrative costs due to students dropping and adding courses because of poor placement decisions, and to provide faculty with information concerning students' levels of preparation well in advance of the first day of…

The Reading Test for New York State Elementary Schools is designed to determine the most difficult prose text a student can read with comprehension. Test uses described include evaluating the student's current level of achievement; determining reading difficulty levels for instruction; measuring growth of comprehension; determining statewide…

The American College Testing (ACT) Assessment Program is reviewed in this four-part report in terms of its use at North Harris County College (NHCC). Part I briefly reviews the contents of the four ACT tests: English Usage, Mathematics Usage, Social Studies Reading, and Natural Science Reading. It goes on to discuss the stability, limitations, and…

This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

This pamphlet outlines an attempt to provide an instrument by which the linguistic background of Welsh children can be measured. In a group of Welsh-speaking children there are different degrees of Welshness, and it is essential, for educational purposes, that the degrees of Welsh linguistic background be estimated. The two versions of the Welsh…

Assessment programs like the American College Test (ACT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) continue to play an important role in the admission decisions of many colleges. In many cases, they also serve a meaningful counseling and guidance function for high schools and colleges. The data reported in this paper suggest that the two programs can…

The efficiency of three written papers dealing with essay writing, comprehension, and literature papers as a test of English ability was assessed in a trial examination administered to 182 boys and 216 girls, all of whom were 16 years of age. Criterion was established on the basis of teachers' assessments of six essays written by the students…

Designed for parents of kindergarten and elementary school children in Austin, Texas, this brochure explains the structure and function of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. A question and answer format is used to provide information on the scope and purposes of the tests, grade level differences in testing, meaning and accuracy of the scores, and…

The North Carolina Test of Algebra II was developed for use as an achievement test following the completion of the Algebra II course of study. Its design serves two purposes: (1) a normative measure of student achievement; and (2) an objective-based measurement of curriculum coverage. The test's curricular validity, content validity, instructional…

The National Teacher Examination (NTE) validation and cut score determination procedures for use in teacher certification in Arkansas are discussed. The NTE area examinations to be validated were selected by the Arkansas Department of Education, which compared the state's certification requirements with the NTE's rationale, content, and scope…

A needs assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is presented. It deals with cost, design and technical issues, and utility. Suggestions include cost reduction via assessment schedule cutbacks and re-use of released NAEP exercises; and a shift from federal to private funding by selling NAEP exercises with interpretative…

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…

A study examined the construct validity of six vocational achievement tests used in the Ohio Vocational Achievement Testing Program. (Subject areas covered in the tests were agricultural mechanics, carpentry, diesel mechanics, distributive education for food services personnel, fabric services, and home economics/food service.) In order to…

A "teacher referenced" test system is discussed in terms of its development, evaluation of implementation, and final validation. This diagnostic test system for problems in primary mathematics in Holland provides reliable, applicable information about both the learning process for the classroom teacher, and diagnostic instruments and…