Recounts the negative experiences two cities had with districtwide testing programs. (IRT)

An attempt to outline the simplest framework for achievement testing that shows the relationship between achievement tests and the instructional programs, and to show how achievement testing may be implemented within this framework. (Author/DEP)

State wide, nation-wide, and international tests of students' knowledge hinder the creative talents of students by forcing homogeneity instead of variety in curriculum and teaching. (DE)

This paper reports the results of a study in which the following issues were addressed: (1) whether there is a strong relationship between syntactic enhancement, as measured by Davidson's Test of Ability to Subordinate (TAS), and overall writing ability; (2) whether a subordination test has any predictive ability for attained writing proficiency;…

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Rorschach test are frequently used in juvenile justice settings to assess current psychological functioning and to predict future behavior. The Exner Comprehensive System, which standardized the Rorschach, made possible a comparison of the Rorschach and the MMPI in an investigation of…

The performance of college students on the adolescent-adult version of the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test was examined in three studies to determine the effects of strategies on performance. With the standard instructions for the MFF, performance was found to be unrelated to test anxiety or extraversion and was parallel in many respects to…

A well developed multiple choice test is a reliable instrument for grading students and evaluating teacher presentation. There are three steps in the development of a valid multiple choice examination: 1) design or "blueprinting," 2) item construction, and 3) item analysis and evaluation. "Blueprinting" is the identification of the types of…

The implications of standardized testing for minority students are explored. Test terminology is described in terms of objectivity, standardization, reliability, and validity. Primarily, however, the paper reviews the objectivity of standardized testing, that is, of those tests which are either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. The use of…

The educational implications of criterion-referenced tests are demonstrated. It is the hypothesis of the author that criterion-referenced tests have little educational impact unless carefully constructed around rigorous domain specifications. The paper details the process and problems of construction of a series of history tests presently being…

Score differentials between the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were investigated in 25 possibly mentally handicapped adolescents (10 white, 15 black). Each S was individually administered both the WISC-R and the WAIS. Results supported the hypothesis that for mentally…

This study was undertaken to determine reliability and validity estimates for a newly developed preschool inventory of cognitive functioning which provides many advantages over traditionally utilized measures. A predominantly pictorial stimulus-psychomotor response set was the format for the test. The test consisted of a series of 61 items divided…

This report summarizes the findings of Jackson and Lahadern who used a revised form of the Student Opinion Poll (SOP) and a questionnaire to study the intercorrelations of attitudes and achievement. The study found that: (1) first graders have attitudes toward school work but these attitudes were not differentiated toward specific school subjects;…

Factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis that College Level Examination Program (CLEP) General Examinations, when administered to students who have completed 2 years of college, do not measure anything different from that measured by the traditional battery of pre-college aptitude examinations. The CLEP examinations were taken in the fall…

Redundancy in language reduces the possiblity of error and permits communication where there is interference in the communicating channel. The relationship between creativity (the basic distinction between language-like behavior and knowing a language) and redundancy has been clearly established. Knowledge of rules is the key factor in creativity…

The Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test was developed to measure the extent to which individuals experience test anxiety. In at least two published studies, the authors claim to have used the test when in fact the response format was changed from that used in the original instrument and the "buffer" items were omitted. To investigate…