Noting that the predominant questions about characters in literature exams steer students away from reflection about the characters, this booklet on constructing exam questions analyzes current failures in character studies and reviews existing starting-points for an alternate approach. The firt section--on limiting assumptions in current…

This collection of brief reports on educational matters of interest to parents contains the most popular titles in the Report to Parents series issued by the National Association of Elementary School Principals as a service to its members. Reports cover the following topics: (1) buying books for children; (2) dealing with child abuse; (3) helping…

Reports and commentary in the media concerning the use of psychological tests in educational, clinical, and business/industrial contexts have become commonplace in recent years. The Gallup polls over the past 15 years indicate that the American people as a whole are in favor of requiring all students to pass a high school graduation examination,…

This document summarizes the criteria for Chapter 1 eligibility, discusses a step-by-step selection procedure, used in the Austin Independent School District, explains the laws and regulations concerning how students are to be selected, emphasizes that special testing should be administered to students whose scores are clearly discrepant from…

Some of the issues involved in proficiency-oriented testing of foreign language listening, reading, and writing skills-- language modalities paid less attention currently than oral skills-- are examined. These general issues are discussed: What is proficiency?; the relationship of the four modalities and proficiency testing; proficiency testing v.…

The purpose of this research is to examine the factor structure of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Forms 8, 9, and 10. The ASVAB consists of ten subtests: General Science; Arithmetic Reasoning; Word Knowledge; Paragraph Comprehension; Numerical Operations; Coding Speed; Auto Shop Information; Mathematics Knowledge;…

Although portions of this guide to finding information on educational and psychological tests at the Library of Congress are directed at those interested in standardized published tests as preparation for taking them, it will probably be most helpful to those administering tests, interpreting their results, or designing measuring devices for…

This report on the development of the Charleston County School District (South Carolina) U.S. History Area Examination outlines: (1) the preliminary planning activities to initiate the development of the test; (2) the development of test blueprints and test specifications; (3) the review of specifications for clarity, completeness, accuracy, and…

This collection of 10 papers focuses on art testing and Norman C. Meier's role in this area of study. The titles written by Gilbert Clark are: (1) "Early Inquiry, Research, and Testing of Children's Art Abilities"; (2) "Norman C. Meier: A Critique of His Tests and Research"; and (3) "Recent Inquiry and Testing of…

These curriculum specifications are based on the prescribed content and objectives of the 1981 Alberta (Canada) Social Studies Curriculum for Grade 12. The purposes of these specifications are to: (1) identify specific course content, objectives, and relative weightings that should be considered in evaluating student progress and achievement; and…

This publication contains some of the open-ended art exercises used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in its 1978-79 assessment of the art ability of students ages nine through 17. The objective is to provide classroom teachers easy access to released and tested art assessment materials. The open-ended exercises required students…

An answer to the question of what sociolinguistics has to offer to the art of language assessment is sought in exploration of the following topics: (1) a history of the development of sociolinguistics and an outline of the research on dialectology; (2) a review of basic sociolinguistic foundations and theories about language, society, domains of…

This study was designed to investigate mathematics performance as a function of anxiety, with examination for a relationship between mathematics and test anxiety and any sex differences on mathematics anxiety. The effects of evaluative stress on high and low mathematically anxious subjects was examined, and preliminary effort was made to…

This paper addresses practical Army problems in reading assessment from a theory base reflecting the most recent research on reading comprehension. Military and occupational research shows that reading proficiency is related to job performance. Reading assessment is a key issue in the Army due to changes in the reading ability levels of the Army…

This project had three major goals: (1) To develop a handbook for high school teachers that shows how instruction and testing can work together to foster student learning; (2) To pilot test this handbook in the context of a staff development program for high school teachers; and (3) To prepare training manuals that would allow the staff…