In 1985, reading and mathematics achievement tests were administered to nearly 15,000 fourth and eighth graders in Alaska. Educators comprising the Interpretive Panel developed a minimum and a desired level of performance. Scores below the minimum indicated a weakness; scores above it, a strength, and scores between, satisfactory achievement. The…

A number of hypotheses were tested concerning elements of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) items that might affect the performance of blacks and whites differently. These elements were characteristics common to several items that otherwise measured different concepts. Seven general hypotheses were tested in the form of sixteen specific…

This paper is a combination of two separate essays, both of which examine changes in standards for student and teacher performance in various states over the past two years. Part 1 examines changes in standards for graduation from high school and the introduction or expansion of statewide programs of testing. Changes in the overall units for…

A study was undertaken to improve the measurement of small team performance within the Army. A provisional taxonomy of team-level performance functions was field-validated; criteria and measures of the functions were developed; and their reliability was examined. The provisional taxonomy, used for observing Army field training exercises, was used…

This resource package is the product of seven national demonstration projects funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The package is intended to assist persons involved with refugee language training in developing programs that address the ORR's English language training goals. The guide is divided into sections addressing the…

Part 2 of the Alberta (Canada) Education's "Program of Studies for Elementary Schools 1978" (amended 1981), this bulletin describes the planned design, parts, and scoring of the grade six English language arts achievement test to be written in June 1988, and based on curriculum specifications for an integration of thinking and…

This report of a national colloquium on promoting community college student success summarizes group discussions and provides the texts of six colloquium presentations. Chapter 1, "Leadership Strategies for Student Success: Issues and Challenges in the Community College," reports on small and large group discussions which sought to define student…

This learning module, which is part of a staff development program for health occupations clinical instructors, presents techniques for assessing students' learning styles. It includes learning activities dealing with theories pertaining to learning styles; facts and principles of learning styles; the elements of learning style; and the use of…

A collection of reports and case studies of second language instruction for proficiency includes: "Language Teaching and the Quest for the Holy Grail" (Theodore V. Higgs); "The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines: A Historical Perspective" (Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro); "The Proficiency-Oriented Classroom" (Alice C. Omaggio);…

This paper presents the legal rationale for using the National Teacher's Examination (NTE) validation procedure, which was used in Arkansas to determine cut-off scores for teacher certification. A review is given of the decision, by the United States Supreme Court, upholding use of the NTE by South Carolina in that state's teacher certification…

This report, the fifth in a series assessing educational quality in Utah public schools, focuses on students' achievements and provides performance measures based on statewide results of various testing programs and special studies. The report presents three types of data relevant to major state board of education programs (such as Utah…

Software and computer management systems that enable educators to manage the monitoring of student progress in acquiring skills for the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) and other standardized tests used in New Jersey schools are described in this study. Focus is on the data collection components for student skill proficiency using the computer…

The agreement between Mantel-Haenszel and Rasch procedures for identifying differential item functioning (DIF) on teacher certification tests was studied. Two specific research questions were addressed: (1) whether the Mantel-Haenszel and Rasch procedures identify the same items as functioning differently; and (2) how consistently each method…

This handbook of collected papers is intended to aid in the achievement of sex equity in education, and in society through education. It is divided into six parts, each with a separate editor (or editors) and contains the following chapters: (1) Examining the Achievement of Sex Equity in and through Education (S. S. Klein, and others); (2)…

Greater knowledge about the practical application of Rasch technology can help in avoiding misapplications and confusions in testing programs. Equal interval curriculum-based scaling makes possible the following improvements in measuring basic skills achievement by enabling testing programs to: (1) individualize the difficulty level of…