This paper addresses problems with performance on open-ended (i.e., not multiple choice) test questions administered on paper for students accustomed to writing with computers. The first section summarizes the results of three studies that examined differences between computer and paper-and-pencil test results. The second section identifies three…

The need to conduct assessments in languages other than English is growing rapidly. In addition to the rising number of children who do not speak English as their language at home, the number of different languages spoken by children in public schools is also increasing rapidly. Shifting demographics strongly support the need to increase the…

Arguing that writing assessment and instruction should inform and influence one another, should evolve together, and should be developed locally, this book presents essays that analyze the development of the writing assessment and instruction program at Washington State University. The essays in the book directly challenge the use of national…

This publication provides guidance for making decisions about the participation in regular assessments of individual students in Alaska with disabilities and with limited English proficiency. It also provides guidance for deciding if a student requires a testing accommodation or an alternate assessment. The regular assessments included…

Tests are used in hopes that disclosure of accomplishments will be made, but teachers sometimes feel they are being penalized for giving consideration to the whole child's development instead of concentrating on drill that would result in higher test scores. Standardized tests cause apprehension about control of student placement and instruction.…

Parents have needs, rights, interests, and responsibilities to know how standardized tests are used in the schools and to call attention to inaccurate test results; to judge the quality of education reflected by tests; and to have information to understand tests to help assess their children's abilities and achievement. (Author/CM)

Examines several possible difficulties in interpreting the results of studies which employ Piagetian tasks, especially conservation tasks, with older individuals. Notes that Piaget's clinical method allows more flexibility in the assessment of competence than do more quantifiable techniques. Examines the possibility of task misinterpretation by…

Initially school personnel tended to select devices with technically adequate reliability and validity. As decision making continued, technically inadequate devices were selected more often. More emphasis on the importance of technically adequate assessment devices is needed in training school professionals. (Author)

This article discusses some of the technical aspects of competency testing with attention to the psychometric and decision theory aspects, specifically, instrument validity, the establishment of cutting scores, and the cost-benefit analysis of program decisions. (Author/SJL)

Current conflicts over test bias and "truth-in-testing" reflect differing aims of education and the increasingly important social role of testing in our society. (Author)

Discusses the use of assignments that require students to write about works of literature as a substitute for taking literature examinations; reports results of a study of the types of literature-related writing tasks assigned in four schools in England. (GT)

Commonly used standardized intelligence scales are free from the inherent flaws that allegedly result in discriminatory assessment. Issues of internal validity, predictive validity, and examiner effects are discussed. (Author/JKS)

This study of modeling behavior in Aboriginal and White Australian boys examines the ways that racial characteristics may intervene in cross-cultural research as factors contributing to performance on experimental and standardized psychological tests. (Author/EB)

Junior college students were given the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the Achievement Anxiety Test. The students were divided into high, average, and low assertive groups. A significant difference in level of facilitative test anxiety was found between low assertive and high assertive groups. Possible explanations for these differences were…

The article presents a general discussion of assessment and examples of items that assess specific skills. Included are: estimating and approximating; observing and measuring; using data to infer and predict; and graph construction and interpretation. Specific tests are listed. (MK)