Testing English listening skills involves a variety of skills. Sounds are sometimes difficult to discriminate in a language that is not one's native tongue, so testing phoneme discrimination, the ability to tell the difference between sounds, is important. Picture choice items are a good way to select among alternatives to demonstrate…

Of the four language skills, reading is probably tested most often, and it may seem to be the easiest to test. However, testing reading proficiency has its difficulties, and the test constructor must be aware of several issues. Reading involves a number of skills, and the number and complexity of these must be recognized. Choosing the text to test…

The use of optical scanners and computers in educational testing is common where objective testing methods (such as true-false, matching, and multiple-choice items) are well-established means of evaluating educational achievement. Where non-objective testing methods (such as fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, and essay items) have been more common,…

The construction of objective tests for native language reading comprehension is described. The tests were designed for the early secondary school years in several kinds of schools, vocational and non-vocational. The description focuses on the use of the Rasch model in test development, to develop a large pool of homogenous items and establish…

This collection of 18 papers (selected from a total of 57 presented at a conference of the International Association for Educational Assessment) represents efforts by examining bodies and institutes to: improve the examination system and testing techniques; develop reliable instruments; and establish standards for public examinations. The papers…

The Rasch model for test analysis is a latent-trait model, which specifies the relationship between observable test performance and the unobservable traits or abilities assumed under test performance. In most cases, the test constructor has no clue as to whether the latent traits postulated by the model are indeed the abilities he wants to…

The Microcomputer Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP) was designed to broaden the use of microcomputers in student testing, for elementary and secondary school use, and for a variety of test item formats. MDTP was designed to administer tests, to allow teachers to create or revise tests, to print out test forms when desired, to score tests, to…