Recommendations are made for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment of informative, persuasive, and imaginative writing. Five major objectives should be assessed by NAEP: (1) writing as a way of thinking and learning; (2) writing to accomplish a variety of purposes; (3) managing the writing process; (4) controlling forms…

Security procedures for the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) are discussed and evaluated. All New Jersey high school students are required to pass the HSPT, which was administered for the first time in 1984. Generally, security plans are designed to limit access to test questions prior to test administration and to prevent…

Inclusion of oral exams as a regular part of the school-based testing program has the advantages of providing motivation to learn oral skills, oral testing experience, additional opportunities for students to perform well, and improved relationships with students. However, logistical problems can be substantial. Adequate time for and efficient…

An overview of the articles and definition of terms for the journal topic of domain reference testing. (HB)

Investigated the efficacy of various WAIS short forms among outpatients. Results favor Pauker's (1963) short form but also show a decrease in correspondence between short-form and Full Scale scores when the short forms are administered separately. (Author/EJT)

The author of "The Tyranny of Testing" discusses his objections to standardized testing. (IRT)

Task complexity in terms of symbolic mediation (inner thought) as a determinant of differential test performance and the prediction of dissimilar functioning were examined. Preschool children with moderate to profound speech and/or language handicaps were tested using: (1) a sound-in-words subtest of the Test of Articulation (TA); (2) Action…

Students watching instructional television become visually oriented to the material presented, learning it by visual rather than verbal association. Yet most tests given to determine student comprehension are verbal. To resolve this inconsistency, the author proposes visual testing, a procedure which he explains and whose usefulness he illustrates…

The adequacy of a test developed for statewide assessment of basic mathematics skills was investigated. The test, comprised of multiple-choice items reflecting a series of behavioral objectives, was compared with a more extensive criterion measure generated from the same objectives by the application of a strict item sampling model. In many…

This essay discusses testing of the disadvantaged and the possibilities for new approaches to the problem. The black community's resistance to testing and the legal implications of employment and educational discrimination which results from testing are discussed. The objections to testing the disadvantaged are reviewed. At the end, it is hoped…

The effects of performance-enhancing modifications of testing procedures of a Piagetian-type instrument were investigated for samples of elementary school-aged White, Black, and Mexican-American children. Results are discussed in terms of test validity. (JKS)

Reviews current approaches to testing oral competence at 16plus and suggests some less artificial alternatives. (AA)

The paper reviews WISC/WISC-R comparison studies which have been conducted with a wide variety of samples. Caution is advised in the interpretation of a WISC/WISC-R difference, as a discrepancy of one SD may not be meaningful. (Author)

Marking is described as part of the central examinations for secondary general education in the Netherlands. These consist of two components: an external, and an internal school-based examination. Pedadogical implications of general school assessment practice, plus recent trends, are discussed. (BS)