Computer-assisted test construction is a simple, inexpensive natural complement to computer-based test scoring. Parallel tests can be made for individually-paced instruction, and the computer can produce feedback to improve item quality. The adaptability of computer-assisted test construction means that its introduction will likely be accepted by…

This booklet is designed to provide guidelines for testing in reading and suggestions for using the test results in ways which will most benefit the student. Ten canons are presented which are intended to serve as guidelines for program-related assessment within a framework of instructional decision making. They are concerned primarily with the…

Both criterion-referenced and norm-referenced measures are useful tools to the classroom teacher, but each has its specific uses. The criterion-referenced measure is useful when one is interested in whether an individual possesses particular competencies and when there are no quotas as to how many possess that skill. It is particularly useful in…

For this study, a 5th and 6th grade team taught classroom of 66 children was chosen. Three equivalent groups of 22 children each were matched on the basis of a pretest in math. Each group was given a different noise level treatment: quiet (45-55 decibels), average (55-70 decibels), and noisy (75-90 decibels). A tape recording of actual classroom…

Presented in the paper are procedures for diagnosing academic and social behaviors of retarded and emotionally disturbed children 5 to 8 years of age. Assessment before instruction is said to involve medical reports, interviews, psychometric tests, direct observation, and behavior inventories. Assessment during instruction is discussed in terms of…

This report asserts that the evaluation of young children can be viewed as a classic case of evaluation of the culturally different. Emphasized is the fact that not only are the majority of tests developed with an adult's perspective concerning adequacy of directions, items, and formats, but also the evaluation of the products is carried out…

The problems stated at the outset were: to discover whether information provided by confidence testing would result in a more accurate assessment of student knowledge so more personal individualized instruction could be presented, and whether sufficient precise data could be attained to be of significant aid in curriculum planning. Analysis has…

The two-level theory of mental abilities posits two broad classes of ability: level I (learning and memory) and level II (the "g" factor of intelligence tests, reasoning, abstraction, and problem solving). Levels I and II are hypothesized to interact with SES and/or race such that: (l) SES differences are greater for level II than for I,…

Research investigated the feasibility of a diagnostic media test system. Two distinct tests were developed for sixth grade and university populations, each having: 1) a main phase with three specific teaching sequences, one for each media form; 2) test items for each teaching sequence; and 3) a validation phase with one teaching sequence…

This compilation of descriptions of State testing programs is based upon responses to a mail survey of the departments of education in the 50 States, the Canal Zone, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It was found that 42 of these offer 74 testing programs (with 18 offering two or more), 9 provide only limited testing services, and 8 do…

This manual provides the basis for a 10-hour advanced course of instruction to be offered for those school bus drivers who have successfully completed a basic course. The course is composed of five units. The pupil control unit attempts to develop in the school bus driver an understanding of the functions of discipline and his relationship to the…

The evidence used in condemning a test as racially biased is usually a validity coefficient for one racial group that is significantly different from that of another racial group. However, both variables in the calculation of a validity coefficient should be examined to determine where the bias lies. A study was conducted to investigate the…

At the seventh Western Regional Conference on Testing Problems, the following speeches were given: (1) "A Guidance Person's Approach to Testing for the Discovery and Development of Human Talent" by Frances D. McGill; (2) "The Instructional Uses of Measurement in the Discovery and Development of Human Talent" by Roy P. Wahle; (3) "New Frontiers of…

The hypothesis discussed in this article is that positive attention to the creative process with ample opportunity to write and tell stories and ideas will result in more competency in the skills of writing - and considerable more success and joy in the art of writing - than will the teaching of the skills per se in the early years. To nurture…

Ten community colleges in Texas sent participants to a faculty and administrators' conference, whose purpose was to discuss all points covering basic-studies programs and to see where consensus and differences of opinion existed among the people who actually operate those programs. This transcript of the conference covers the following topics: (1)…