Argues that there is room for both those tests that focus on stable between-individual gains, and discusses how to evaluate a test along both the psychometric and edumetric dimensions. (Author/JM)

This study tested the validity and reliability of the West Informal Reading Evaluation (WIRE), an unobtrusive screening device that identifies adult learners' reading abilities. Of the 154 students in basic education or high school completion courses who completed one form of WIRE, 123 subjects were administered another reading test that served as…

Examines confusions that result from the use of the words "standardization,""reliability,""objectivity," and "validity" in connection with testing. (IRT)

These two related papers provide information on teacher attitudes toward black dialect use in the classroom and the measurement of such attitudes. The first paper reports on data from 176 administrators, counselors, teachers, and student teachers, revealing significant relationships between a teacher's definition of black dialect, attitudes toward…

The secondary level English proficiency (SLEP) test is a group administered 150 item multiple-test of English language proficiency that includes two subscores and eight different item types. It is designed to assess a foreign student's readiness for English medium instruction at the secondary level. This paper reports on two studies which were…

A study was conducted to explore the reliability and validity of three prominent procedures used in informal reading inventories (IRIs): (1) choosing a 95% word recognition accuracy standard for determining student instructional level, (2) arbitrarily selecting a passage to represent the difficulty level of a basal reader, and (3) employing…

Two approaches to criterion-referenced test construction are compared. Classical test theory is based on the practice of random sampling from a well-defined domain of test items; latent trait theory suggests that the difficulty of the items should be matched to the achievement level of the student. In addition to these two methods of test…

An aptitude test requiring 10-minutes' administration time was administered to high school students learning Forkner, Century 21, and Gregg shorthand for the purpose of determining test validity for different shorthand systems. Validity data were obtained from approximately 2000 students. Aptitude test reliability ranged from KR20=0.88 to 0.90.…

An area of current concern is that of the advantages and disadvantages of measuring writing proficiency directly via writing samples, and indirectly via objective tests. Much research has been completed documenting the correlation between direct and indirect measures. However, there had not yet been a systematic and detailed conceptual analysis…

This paper reports upon the evaluation and implementation of a 30-item Likert-type rating scale for teachers to use in assessing children's behaviors within preschool classrooms. The Preschool Observation Scale (POS) was developed to evaluate programs of the Mt. Druitt Early Childhood Project, North Ryde, Australia. Items were constructed on the…

Formulas are presented for decision reliability and for classification validity for mastery/nonmastery decisions based on criterion referenced tests. Two item parameters are used: the probability of a master answering an item correctly, and the probability of a nonmaster answering an item incorrectly. The theory explores the relationships of…