There is evidence that pre-tests can have orienting and motivational and teaching functions - in addition to the sought-for testing function. There is also evidence that these additional functions can be either general or specific. The present paper contributes to the ongoing debate by discussing the issues involved in the context of a series of…

A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF PRETESTING ORIENTATION UPON (1) STUDENTS' MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING TEST RESULTS AND (2) THE CHANGES IN ACCURACY OF SELF-ESTIMATES RESULTING FROM TEST INTERPRETATION. FIVE SCHOOL SYSTEMS WERE SELECTED FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE STUDY. TWO RECEIVED THE ORIENTATION TREATMENT, TWO THE ROUTINE…

Considers four major decisions to illustrate the complexity of decision making about pretesting as part of the instructional process: whether a pretest should be administered; the behaviors that should be pretested; how pretesting should be accomplished; and how teaching strategies should be adjusted to pretest results. (MBR)

The purpose of the research project was to determine the effectiveness of a comprehensive career orientation program in increasing awareness of self and of career opportunities in students of rural areas. Conducted with grades 7 and 8 in LePera school in Parker, Arizona from May 1973 to October 1974, the program provided occupational information…

A study was conducted to determine if the observed changes in Head Start children were related to the practice effects inherent in a test-retest situation. The "control" group consisted of 64 children who had been eligible for a Head Start program. They roughly matched a group of Head Start (HS) children in IQ scores, age, and…

The study examined whether the California Achievement Test (CAT) results would be affected if the test instructions were administered in the language the children best understood. In a pre-post-test sequence, 77 Mexican American second graders between the ages of 7 and 8 of a low socioeconomic background attending the same elementary school in…

A computer simulation procedure was developed to reproduce the overall pattern of results obtained in the Educational Testing Service Growth Study. Then simulated data for seven sets of 10,000 to 15,000 cases were analyzed, and findings compared on the basis of correlations between estimated and true growth scores. Findings showed that growth was…