This booklet presents results from four survey questions asked of the audience and papers presented at a 1995 teleconference on assessment issues with African American adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. An introductory paper, "Multiple Factors Impacting the Assessment and Instruction of African American Adolescents and Adults…

Examines the usefulness of accountability measures for student achievement as empowerment tools for all students, providing examples from Native American schools. The paper posits the need for understanding current standardized testing, demonstrates how content currently tested can help increase the utility of instructional programs, and advocates…

Four simulated mathematical and verbal test forms were produced by test assembly procedures proposed in legislative bills in California and New York in 1986 to minimize differences between majority and minority scores. Item response theory analyses of data for about 22,000 black and 28,000 White high-school students were conducted. (SLD)

Discusses issues related to standardized testing and a national art curriculum. Maintains that cultural diversity among students makes valid and fair assessment difficult. Argues that teachers should be trained in the use of authentic assessment methods. (CFR)

Struggling students are often victimized by time constraints--arbitrarily imposed timetables for mastering material and meeting standards. People learn best from experience, not by information acquisition, skill development, rote memorization, or assessment. Reading, writing, arithmetic, scientific understanding, and civics require student…

To help determine how the introduction of alternate assessment can be structured to maximize its acceptance and long-term adoption by teachers, a case study was conducted of the introduction of alternate assessment in a suburban middle school in the spring of 1991. Three seventh-grade life science teachers, three eighth-grade physical science…

This bibliography is an addendum to a 1987 update of an earlier bibliography on proficiency-related issues in language teaching and testing. The bibliography includes publications that appeared in 1987 and 1988, and a few that appeared in 1986. The 84 citations include basic bibliographic information, and are organized in the following categories:…

The Bilingual Education Evaluation System was developed to help local bilingual education projects overcome evaluation obstacles and design sound, useful evaluations within the constraints of available funding and with responsiveness to current federal legislation and regulations. The evaluation system proposed involves a process component, an…

This report was designed to respond to two major methodological shortcomings in the item bias literature: (1) misfitting test models; and (2) the use of significance tests. Specifically, the goals of the research were to describe a newly developed method known as the "plot method" for identifying potentially biased test items and to…

Data from Project Talent and the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 provided comparable data on changes between 1960 to 1972 in reading ability and other characteristics of high school seniors, college entrants, and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) takers. Each group showed a decline in reading ability, but the drop for SAT…

Polls dealing with American public education conducted since 1936 are examined, and over 60 items were chosen to illustrate: (1) changes in public opinion since 1960 that might have altered students' evaluations of college attendance or academic excellence, and (2) changes prior to 1960 that might have affected the quality of preparation for…

The College Entrance Examination Board Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Score Decline considered various changes in American society as a possible cause of the downward trend in SAT scores that has occurred each year since 1963. For a span of 42 years (1933-75), a fold-out chart displays major events and influences on events,…

The purpose of this report is to: (1) summarize the attempts that have been made to define and investigate test wiseness, particularly those efforts made at teaching test wiseness; (2) identify gaps and deficiencies in the existing body of research; (3) make recommendations as to the direction that future research in this area should take; and (4)…

Central Midwestern Regional Educational Laboratory, Inc. (CEMREL) analyzed educational computer trends in the CEMREL region. Between 1967-68 and 1968-69, there was roughly a 50% increase in electronic data processing (EDP) installations. Computer and remote terminal installations also increased 50%, but the proportion of computers under school…

Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) protocols were used with at-risk Hispanic female and male adolescents were examined to determine their sensitivity to this population. The SDS was completed by 89 at-risk Hispanic students (49 females and 33 males) in grade 9 at a nontraditional school for students who have been deemed at risk for gang and…