A project was conducted to determine formal and informal competencies based on an expanded definition of workplace environmental literacy. A secondary goal was to develop a compact between employers and training program graduates whereby graduates would have preferential access to employment opportunities. Issues that arose during the…

The results of the annual survey of state teacher testing programs in 1990 are summarized. State directors of teacher testing programs were contacted in the summer of 1990 and asked to update the data compiled in 1989 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation. The results show that 46 states required teacher testing in 1990.…

A generalizable systems-based needs analysis model was developed to help school district testing and evaluation offices evaluate current problems with their information processing systems and identify additional computer capabilities required to upgrade their systems. The model contains four main phases, namely: definition of the department…

Data were collected to develop special norms for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABSs) for educable mentally retarded (EMR) and trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children. These scales currently report special norms for retarded adults. The study also sought to determine if the low to moderate relationship typically found between…

The construct validity of biographical items in the Individual Achievement Record (IAR) was assessed in an attempt to develop a confirmatory factor model. This first phase of a two-phase study focused on the IAR's use as a predictor of job performance. The IAR is an empirically keyed biodata inventory containing 112 multiple-choice items. Item…

Any systematic approach to the assessment of students' ability implies the use of a model. The more explicit the model is, the more its users know about what they are doing and what the consequences are. The Rasch model is a strong model where measurement is a bonus of the model itself. It is based on four ideas: (1) separation of observable…

In January 1982, Wytheville Community College (WCC) adopted the English Qualifying Exam (EQE) as its English placement instrument and made the exam mandatory for all students wishing to enter English 101 or 111 after the spring 1982 quarter. A study was conducted to determine the correlation between students' EQE scores and their English 101/111…

A comparison of the results of grades 4, 7, and 10 of the Dearborn Public Schools and the state attainment on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) by skill areas and objectives is described. The contents include (1) Dearborn versus state MEAP attainment results, (2) comparison of MEAP results with previous MEAP results of same groups…

Contradictions are inherent in the evaluation of placement test writing, contradictions that at once value and devalue writers and writing, readers and reading. In testing, the evidence for the essay's effectiveness rests almost entirely on the writer's choice of linguistic forms. The characteristics that distinguish evaluation in competency…

The effectiveness of Mississippi's Assistant Teacher Program (ATP) was evaluated after its third year of operation, determining: (1) whether first graders who were exposed to teachers and assistant teachers who had been in ATP for three years continued to make progress in academic achievement; (2) the effectiveness of ATP in fostering achievement…

Testing to assess student learning in general education and the extent to which students achieve general education goals at Trenton State College were examined. Faculty reported that the general education program most emphasized both problem solving and communication and research and least emphasized the arts and non-Western civilization. Two…

The publisher's perspective of testing and the curriculum can be described in terms of the criteria for selecting norm-referenced standardized achievement tests: (1) market need--what the customer needs and wants; (2) product match--whether the product neets the need; (3) distribution--whether or not the product can be sold; and (4) end user…

With the growing interest in comparing student achievement state by state, there is a need to develop better techniques for making such comparisons. Approaches available now, particularly the use of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) scores, have obvious shortcomings but nonetheless continue to be prominent because…

This three-part paper describes the development of a software program called "The Growth Curve of Microorganisms" for a tenth-grade biology class. Designed to improve students' cognitive skills, the program enables them to investigate, through computer simulations, the impact upon the growth curve of a population of three variables: temperature,…

This paper examines possible explanations for the fact that evaluation results are rarely used. Most explanatory factors for use of results in decision making mentioned in the literature have been clustered in three categories of variables. They concern: (1) the making of decisions about the practical problem; (2) the way in which evaluation is…