The implementation of a district-wide testing program requires careful consideration of credibility issues. These issues have been frequently overlooked or treated casually by test developers and users alike. It is well enough to study the reliability and validity issues involved when selecting instrumentation. It is also necessary to identify…

The history and development of city-wide testing programs in Chicago since 1936 are reviewed and placed in context with the impact on testing of Sputnik and the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. Current testing problems include the time lag between events and curricular changes and new test construction, the time lag between…

Specific recommendations are made concerning the circumstances under which the benefits of out-of-level testing outweigh the problems associated with it. Topics explored are: various methods for deciding when a set of test scores is invalid and the utility of these methods for local evaluators, the accuracy of vertical scaling, and the usefulness…

Consideration is given to the degree of congruence between objectives and test items in the evaluation of objective-based testing. An analytic technique that measures congruence is described, and a bibliography is provided. (CK)

Three papers are included in this document. The first, "An Introduction to the Problem of Test User Qualifications," by Kevin L. Moreland, is a short history of the American Psychological Association (APA)/American Educational Research Association (AERA)/National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) Working Group on Test User…

Specifying the purpose and uses to be made of a test prior to administration is of paramount importance when one considers the time administrators and teachers spend on selecting, developing, administering and scoring tests and the amount of student time required to complete the tests. Determination of how test results will be used should be made…

The relationship between the Instructional Process, Instructional Objectives, and Assessment Tasks, identified at the School City of Gary, Indiana, necessitate an effective testing program. Four characteristics perceived crucial to a sound program were: (1) The program should be continuous, (2) The testing program should be comprehensive, (3)…

This resource document represents the integration of both practice and theory related to minimum competency testing (MCT), and is largely based on information collected in a nationwide survey of MCT programs. Chapter 1, To Implement or Not to Implement MCT, by Marcy R. Perkins, presents a definition of MCT and a discussion of the perceived…

This report is the final one in a trilogy stemming from the 1968 Summer Reading Institute in the Washington Model School Division. The Institute was designed to meet the needs of elementary school teachers in their attempts to teach language skills and reading to students in grades K-3. This follow-up study examines the results of the Summer…

Recognizing the lack of public confidence in the schools, public officials and educators should discuss the proper use and limitations of competency testing and the implementation of national tests. Competency tests should be used for diagnosis, for certifying that students possess basic skills, and for public awareness. They should not be the…

The conference was planned to appeal to a diverse audience and was not centered on a single unifying theme. It was divided into three sessions. Session I was comprised of two presentations which focused on measurement problems at the preschool, early childhood, and preadolescent levels: Measurement of Cognitive Abilities at the Preschool and Early…