The testing of bilingual students poses particular problems for analyses of performance, item bias, and test adequacy. A test administered in two languages to children selected for their language facility provides a special arena for the study of these problems. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) was selected because the test content…

The paper discusses the effects of a specific culture, in this case Chilean, on bilingual handicapped students' responses to test items. Even though the tests used were Spanish translations, Ss' responses were influenced by lifestyles, the educational system, and the physical resources available in the classroom setting. Evidence is cited to…

This monograph serves as a nontechnical guide to teachers, counselors, school psychologists, administrators, parents, and others who use the 1974 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests. The Standards are a concise summary of standards and guidelines for the development, evaluation, interpretation, use, and reporting of information on…

At issue in this case is the validity of specified uses by North Carolina of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE), a standardized testing program produced and administered by Educational Testing Service. This brief amicus curiae is designed to assist the Court in distinguishing among the valid and inappropriate uses of the NTE and the different…

Assessment exercises (items) in three different formats--multiple-choice with an "I don't know" (IDK) option, multiple-choice without the IDK, and open-ended--were placed at the beginning, middle and end of 45-minute assessment packages (instruments). A balanced incomplete blocks analysis of variance was computed to determine the biasing…

This guide is a compilation of factors considered important in the selection of tests for bilingual/bicultural programs. It is intended for use by test selectors or teachers in bilingual education, and does not presume to be exhaustive or authoritative. Basically the guide consists of questions the test selector or teacher should ask when…

This paper is concerned with the accusations made by such groups as the Association of Black Psychologists in their call for a moratorium on testing, that standardized tests are biased. A biased test measures one trait in one group of people but a different trait in a second group. Evidence about the amount of bias in tests is thin. Bias must be…

Alternate admission systems are reviewed in respect to the minority applicant in an attempt to assess the nature of the bias frequently referred to in connection with standardized testing. The connection between the use of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) as a standardized test and the admission system was explored, concluding that the role…

Intended for educational assessors, school administrators, and those involved in the education of teachers and assessors, the manual presents guidelines for nonbiased educational assessment of culturally different children. Addressed are three major issues (sample subtopics are in parentheses): standardization of tests (norms, validity,…

Characteristics which should be considered in reviewing any standardized reading test include validity, reliability, standardization sample, areas assessed by the test, type of response required by the child, individual versus group administration, time needed for administration, availability of equivalent forms, scoring options available,…

A search for systematic extraneous influences upon high school student ratings of teacher effectiveness is reported, with the view of demonstrating how such influences meeting the criteria (student motivation/preference and class size) need to be considered in the evaluation of the validity of such ratings. (PN)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called the "Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative, continuing assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP provides a comprehensive measure of students' learning at critical junctures in their school experience. The…

A student may be so unlike other students that his/her aptitude test score fails to be a completely appropriate measure. We consider the problem of using the student's pattern of multiple-choice aptitude test answers to decide whether his/her score is an appropriate ability measure. (Author/CTM)

Reports that the Estes Attitude Scale suffers from the influence of cultural biases that make it inadequate to measure attitude about reading among low-income, Black students in grades three through seven in the rural southern United States. (FL)

Examines the problems with standardized tests as they apply to language minority students, and offers an alternative assessment process called an authentic assessment. Some classroom uses for authentic assessments are briefly noted. (GR)