Use of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) with minority disadvantaged children in an urban school district resulted in increased numbers of African-American students (grades two through five) being eligible for gifted programing. Comparison with African-American students selected by traditional means found similar levels of…

Methods used by adults to read numerals were investigated by asking graduate students in education to read and solve mathematics problems. Eye movement studies noted reading patterns. Distinct first reading and rereading phases and two distinct methods of reading numerals were identified. (SLD)

Examines the differences between norm-referenced tests (standardized assessments of intelligence, aptitude, achievement, and personality) and criterion-referenced tests. Until school districts improve their potential to develop meaningful criterion-referenced tests, norm-referenced tests will be the major yardstick for measuring student…

A lawsuit involving the National Board for Respiratory Therapy illustrates that certification examinations are vulnerable to complaints of discrimination and employers' misuse of test results. The board's five-step process--position-viability study, personnel survey, job analysis, item writing/test development, and criterion-related validity…

Seventeen Canadian teachers and administrators were interviewed to determine their perspectives on reading education. Forty-two interviews were transcribed and evaluated. Preliminary analysis reveals that assessment as a social-psychological phenomenon is filled with tensions, contradictions, and dilemmas that cannot be solved simply through…

Maintains that the justification for using standardized achievement tests for children below grade three is questionable, and proposes the adoption of performance assessment that documents activities in which children engage on a daily basis. Explains the Work Sampling System, a performance assessment system that involves developmental checklists,…

Using a schooling model and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) data for 79,428 Californian students, questions raised by school comparisons based on SAT results were addressed: the role of demographic/academic characteristics in student SAT participation, and the relationship of participation rates and examinee/school demographics to SAT performance.…

Reviews major issues germane to the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case. Discusses the second wave of Texas standards-based reform that would institutionalize retention for students failing a state-mandated achievement test, proposed federal legislation limiting use of high stakes tests, and psychometric and policy lessons learned from…

Robert L. Thorndike was awarded the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Measurement Award at the 1972 ETS Invitational Conference. In "Heredity, Environment, and Class or Ethnic Differences," J. McV. Hunt addressed several fundamental questions pertaining to the hereditary and environmental influences of the observed social class and ethnic…

This study provides information regarding the validity of the regression model for the American College Testing Program assessment (ACT), incorporating high school course grades and ACT test scores, for predicting the first-year college grade point averages (GPAs) of ACT-tested special-needs students. The sample of special-tested students used in…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) were used to predict achievement (measured by the Stanford Achievement Test) for 200 students with mild handicaps, in grades K through 6 in a rural western school district. Males scored significantly higher than females for every…

For many people, school reform means taking the responsibility for goal setting away from teachers and assessing common student accomplishments, but the costs and benefits of this accountability strategy have not been determined. The difference between the aims of education represented by test scores, and those represented by the activities of the…

To test the applicability of multidimensional ratings of writing effectiveness that are amenable to normal classroom usage, all grade 7 students (N=139) from one suburban school (Sydney, Australia) wrote a brief essay. Master and student teachers evaluated all the essays according to overall effectiveness of written expression and according to…

The study investigated the applicability of previous experimental research on stereotype threat to operational Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®) General Test testing centers. The goal was to document any relationships between features of the testing environment that might cue stereotype threat as well as any impact on GRE test scores among…

The content of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act is described, its current interpretations are examined, and the implications for developing a responsible language and citizenship curriculum to conform to the legislation are discussed. Specific attention is focused on the law's requirement that illegal aliens applying for amnesty and…