To correct for measurement error in the correlation of student status with achievement gain, the simplex model was used. Results supported the authors' hypothesis that status and gain are correlated. Students who start out as low achievers may need more help over time to maintain the same academic growth as higher achievers. (Author/MV)

Suggests that test performance can be improved through test administration procedures that inform students when they are responding to instruments that assess socially desirable attributes (such as aptitude and achievement) and that take into account children's feelings about school tasks. (Author)

Productive language is where both recent innovative efforts and the most severe problems are. Two problems to be answered are decisions about the assessment situation and about focal aspects of communicative competence to be assessed in them. Two examples of current work are inserted from papers prepared by the staff of the High/Scope Educational…

Discusses problems with the ACTFL/ETS Oral Proficiency Guidelines and examines inconsistencies relating to three assumptions of oral proficiency (OPT)--hours of study, accuracy/interest, and errors. Further, it is argued that the main problems with OPT arise from an analytic approach and the native speaker yardstick. (SED)

Description of an objective method for assigning weights to questions on examinations includes discussions of classical test theory, knowledge organization, and how task analysis can be used to identify knowledge elements required to solve specific problems, rank them, and assign objective weights to exam questions using a Pareto distribution (7…

This response to Batsche and Peterson's article discusses the theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic merits of projective assessment when performed in the context of a comprehensive personality assessment battery. The projective measures should not be considered in isolation. The author concludes projective techniques are not incompatible with…

Grade equivalent (GE) scores for elementary school achievement tests are defended in response to efforts to ban their use. Equal interval developmental scoring methods for the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills are criticized. (BS)

Discusses the problems associated with "grading on a curve," the approach often used for standard setting on language proficiency tests. Proposes four main steps presented in the setting of a non-arbitrary cut-score. These steps not only establish a proficiency standard checked by external criteria, but also check to see that the test covers the…

The present study hypothesized and found that test-anxious subjects can learn to redirect their attention to the task, and away from the internal stimulation resulting from anxiety. Observation of a model successfully coping with anxiety and subsequent role playing of such behavior produced the desired results. (Author/NG)

The study investigated levels of agreement among graduate students (n=14) and school psychologists (n=18) in scoring drawings for the 10 designs on the WPPSI Geometric Design subtest. Considerable scoring disagreement occurred within each group. Results suggest careful study of the WPPSI scoring criteria is needed to achieve scoring proficiency.…

In 1998, the British Government introduced the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) in all state primary schools (encompassing students aged 5-11) in England in a bid to raise literacy standards. A year earlier, 13 local education authorities were involved in the piloting of the project, including the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The first Newcastle…

To discover how far judgments about need are consistent across schools, a national sample of special needs coordinators was asked to say how many children with reading difficulties existed in their schools. Responses from schools where mean levels of reading were high were compared with those where mean levels were lower. Analysis indicates that…

This digest discusses the assessment of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Topics addressed include: (1) the purpose of an assessment of children who are deaf or hard of hearing; (2) problems associated with assessment, including the diagnostician's lack of experience with the deaf population, communication problems, tests that are normed…

With regard to testing, technology has already played significant roles in the form of scoring technology, analytical practices, and development strategies. Two common functions of technology and testing are currently at work. First is the use of technology to meet existing goals more efficiently, and second is the use of technology to expand the…