Discusses platform unity, or aligning curriculum content with appropriate test types. Presents findings from a survey of 30 Virginia community college faculty, indicating that the faculty did not plan and test content congruently, tended to overtest content, and were effective but not efficient in test selection. (25 citations) (AJL)

A study evaluated different approaches to placing students in adult literacy classes using 168 adult basic education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) students. Students in classes at Rochambeau School in White Plains, New York, were given the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE), the Tests of Adult Literacy Skills (TALS), an oral…

The educational accountability movement is changing the teacher's role in curriculum development from that of autonomous decision maker to agent of public school policy makers. To assess teacher reactions to factors influencing their autonomy, 75 teachers were exposed to pressures to change the content of fourth grade mathematics instruction in a…

Test evaluation summaries completed by the Center for the Study of Evaluation in 1970 and 1976 were used to determine changes in test quantity and quality among elementary-level standardized instruments. In the earlier studies, the instruments were rated in four general areas: measurement validity, examinee appropriateness, administrative…

Cross-referenced to instructional objectives defined in a previous publication, (Guidelines to Mathematics, K-6), the Wisconsin Mathematics Test can be used to measure achievement gains over a given year, or to detect student strengths and weaknesses, by correlating missed items with the objectives. It is also possible to compare results on a…

This paper provides a historical review of national standardized testing and its relation to ethnic and racial minorities. In the pre-World War I period, psychological testing was conducted on the large masses of immigrants that were arriving in the U.S., and on black and white army draftees. Generally these tests showed that black draftees and…

This study surveyed 53 master's level students in two tests and measurement classes to determine if and in what fashion they had been victimized by testing and evaluation. The purpose of this activity was to acquire personal data which could be used to both dramatize and formulate criteria for the construction of classroom tests. A majority of…

Assesses the measurement qualities of a computer-managed test of children's reading vocabulary, and the resultant representational patterns of vocabulary knowledge. Describes the test's administration, and its high reliability. Reveals that it shows that children of all ability levels know a range of very common to very rare words. (SKC)

The first edition of this book was written to give information about testing to people whose work gave them access to test results, but whose training included little or nothing about the use and interpretation of tests. Later editions have been intended for a broader audience as the need for understanding what test scores really mean has…

This synopsis of the Committee on Ability Testing report (see ED 213 770 and ED 213 771) discusses recent controversy over testing limitations, test fairness, admissions testing, test disclosure, and test use in public schools to improve substandard performance. (CM)

Even in an educational tests and measurements classroom it is possible to stimulate student creativity and divergent thinking. Examples of projects and test constructions are given to provide food for thought for the creative teacher. (JN)

Examines changing population demographics in the United States, including shifting student demographic projections, and discusses student-testing issues resulting from these changes. The article reviews the historical context of testing ethnic students, testing special-education students, regulatory issues surrounding the testing of ethnic pupils,…

Evaluates the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the visual arts, discussing issues such as the formulation of performance expectations and reporting procedures. States that, when exploring the scores, the context within which the arts are taught must be considered. Asserts that educational improvement requires changes in the…

As part of an effort to develop strategies for measuring institutional effectiveness, a study was conducted at West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVU-P), a two-year institution with an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students, to determine the most appropriate instrument for measuring gains in general education between incoming freshman (i.e.,…

In response to concerns raised by principals at both the elementary and intermediate levels regarding the amount of instructional time consumed by students taking tests which were not related to day-to-day instruction, a study was conducted of the amount of time spent preparing to give such tests and actually administering them, and the manner in…