During spring 1988, an initial survey was conducted among two- and four-year colleges in New York State to identify the primary reading test used for diagnosis and placement. In order to address several questions raised by the study, a follow-up survey of participating two-year colleges was conducted during fall 1989. Of the 28 two-year colleges…

To facilitate the proper technical use of the test scores obtained from the administration of the tests, the curricular and psychometric characteristics of the tests are described in a series of technical manuals. This manual, the eighth in the series, contains a description of the characteristics of the North Carolina Test of Geometry. This paper…

The validity of educational tests used as critical measures of educational outcomes within a dynamic system is discussed. Validity becomes a problem if an educational system adapts itself to the characteristics of the outcome measures. The concept of systematically valid tests is introduced; these tests induce curricular and instructional changes…

The construct validity of biographical items in the Individual Achievement Record (IAR) was assessed in an attempt to develop a confirmatory factor model. This first phase of a two-phase study focused on the IAR's use as a predictor of job performance. The IAR is an empirically keyed biodata inventory containing 112 multiple-choice items. Item…

Any systematic approach to the assessment of students' ability implies the use of a model. The more explicit the model is, the more its users know about what they are doing and what the consequences are. The Rasch model is a strong model where measurement is a bonus of the model itself. It is based on four ideas: (1) separation of observable…

Contradictions are inherent in the evaluation of placement test writing, contradictions that at once value and devalue writers and writing, readers and reading. In testing, the evidence for the essay's effectiveness rests almost entirely on the writer's choice of linguistic forms. The characteristics that distinguish evaluation in competency…

The publisher's perspective of testing and the curriculum can be described in terms of the criteria for selecting norm-referenced standardized achievement tests: (1) market need--what the customer needs and wants; (2) product match--whether the product neets the need; (3) distribution--whether or not the product can be sold; and (4) end user…

Communicative competence is often characterized as an integrated control of language reflected in the speaker's ability to understand and use language appropriately for communication in various situations. The theoretical basis for the communicative competence construct is the anthropological, sociolinguistc, and pragmatic view of language.…

Research on assessing the cultural fairness of individual test items is reviewed, with emphasis on Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic model. As defined in this review, differential item characteristics are exhibited when examinees from one group have a lower probability of answering correctly than do examinees of equal ability from another group.…

This report summarizes some of the literature focusing on specific aspects of the cultures of American Indians and the concommitant testing and assessment problems. The issues of non-competitiveness, language barriers, and a high incidence of middle ear disease among American Indian children are examined as they affect the assessment process. The…

A review of functional literacy testing in the United States from 1955-82 is provided by summarizing the results of literacy assessment studies and synthesizing the major issues which they have engendered. These reviews are grouped with respect to content, criterion-related, and construct validity. The paper concludes by (1) summarizing some of…

The analyses of J. E. Hunter (1983) were replicated with an expanded data set. The Hunter study, the basis of the Validity Generalization system used by the United States Employment Service, contained 515 General Aptitude Test Battery validation studies. The data set in this study included these and additional studies to bring the data set to 755…

This report assesses the impact of testing on the national minority teaching force. Its central focus examines the impact of teacher competency tests on prospective minority teachers and, where data are available, the impact of testing on veteran teachers is assessed. State-by-state profiles are presented. A case study of a single state, Florida,…

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…