Item bias, when present in a multiple-choice test, can be detected by appropriate analyses of the persons x items scoring matrix. Five related schemes for the statistical analysis of bias were applied to a widely used, primary skills multiple-choice test which was administered in either its English- or Spanish-language version at each of the two…

The study reports a feasibility study for using Item Response Theory (IRT) as a means of equating the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE). The study focused on the possibility of pre-equating, that is, deriving the equating transformation prior to the final administration of the test. The three-parameter logistic model was postulated as the…

The first of eight related documents, this booklet is part of a series of papers presented at the 1978 National Right to Read Conference examining issues and problems in literacy. In its examination of standardized reading competency tests, the booklet first offers a definition of the kind of test it will consider and the criteria the test must…

Test scores that are not perfectly reliable cannot be strictly equated unless they are strictly parallel. This fact implies that tau equivalence can be lost if an equipercentile equating is applied to observed scores that are not strictly parallel. Thirty-six simulated data sets are produced to simulate equating tests with different difficulties…

Intended to help educators select diagnostic and criterion referenced reading tests for their specific purposes, this book contains reviews of nine individual and three group tests. The reviewed tests were selected for their "importance" from a list of 34 and were reviewed by experts according to their descriptions of content, test development,…

Arguments against competency testing surface continually, and classic counter-arguments reoccur. Nevertheless, minimum competency testing and other accountability efforts have much public support. Those claiming that the tests are not relevant or do not have predictive validity, also say they are coachable and biased. Answers are given to these…

Standardized test scores (STS) should be used on a local level: (1) as one component of evaluation of a student, school, or district; (2) to draw as much interpretive meaning from a norm-referenced test (NRT) as their structure will support; (3) as a communication device with students, parents, the public, and professional staff; (4) to check…

FOLLOWUP STUDIES WERE MADE ON 312 NEGRO CHILDREN, APPROXIMATELY ONE FIFTH OF A SAMPLE OF 1800 STUDENTS TESTED IN A PREVIOUS STUDY. THEY REPRESENTED A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE OF RURAL, URBAN, AND METROPOLITAN AREAS OF A SOUTHERN STATE. INSTRUMENTS USED FOR SCORING INCLUDED THE STANFORD-BINET, THE CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST, AND THE GOODENOUGH…

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), a new quantitative method of employee performance evaluation, is advocated for teacher evaluation. Development of a BARS consists generally of five steps: a representative sample of potential raters generates the scales; the group identifies the broad qualities to be evaluated; the group formulates…

The special case of the Piagetian model is discussed in relation to test theory. Problems connected with the construction and analysis of a test based on Piaget and Inhelder's The Child's Construction of Quantities are presented, and related to a method of representing the item discrimination which is consonant with Piagetian theory. Loevinger and…

The purpose of this study was to validate the Prescriptive Instructional Program for Educational Readiness (PIPER) for utilization as a criterion referenced test (CRT) among learning disabled children. The program consisted of behavioral objectives and diagnostic and/or mastery tasks and activities for each objective in the area of gross motor…

This report stems from the misunderstanding of what general standardized tests and standardized admission tests can and were designed to do, and an uneasiness with certain discoveries concerning biases in the tests. Important issues such as margin of error, predictive value, social and racial bias, and the effects of coaching are the very issues…

The 1978 New York City Test Report indicates that forty-three percent of those tested in that year in the City's public schools are reading at or above grade level. These results, however, when summarized in this way, are meaningless. The graph prepared for this article traces the reading levels of the school system and its 32 districts for…

There is a positive relationship between a selected measure of test anxiety and several measures of self-perception. Hypotheses of concommitant decreases in self-esteem as test anxiety increased were offered. Subjects consisted of 193 undergraduate students (123 females and 70 males) enrolled in educational psychology and foundations of education…

In an attempt to improve Head Start evaluations, several methodological techniques are proposed. Since programs vary in approach, evaluations must be made on the success of the individual programs. Formulation of research questions should provide information as to the process and outcome of the program. To avoid experimenter bias, experimenters…