Thirty-three counselors attending a workshop at the 1988 Annual Convention of the American Association for Counseling and Development were asked to rate six "critical incident" exercises on bias in test content and unfairness in test usage. About two-thirds of the subjects were female, and one-third were male. The subjects ranged in age…

This package consists of an information booklet for job candidates preparing to take California's Corrections Officer Examination and a user's manual intended for those who will administer the examination. The candidate information booklet provides background information about the development of the Corrections Officer Examination, describes its…

This preliminary investigation explored a means of maximizing the use of standardized test results. In addition to the usual package of alpha and ranked norm-referenced test reports, a special series of reports by the California Test Bureau/McGraw-Hill was generated for remedial reading and mathematics teachers. These reports displayed primarily…

The thesis of this paper is that the decision to use one of three approaches to unit-of-analysis in educational research should be based on substantive considerations, not statistical factors. In addition to the commonly used "total analysis" (regression analysis across individuals), the within and between analyses are inherent in the…

The advantages and disadvantages of grade equivalent (GE) scores are explored, including appropriate uses for GE type scores and how to bring current GE scales closer to the type of information educators appear to desire. Although GE scores are not an equal interval scale, not comparable across school subjects, and do not indicate the grade level…

Specific recommendations are made concerning the circumstances under which the benefits of out-of-level testing outweigh the problems associated with it. Topics explored are: various methods for deciding when a set of test scores is invalid and the utility of these methods for local evaluators, the accuracy of vertical scaling, and the usefulness…

An empirical comparison of the validity of three Likert-type attitude scales measuring fourth to sixth grade students' attitudes toward school integration was conducted. The content-parallel forms differed only in terms of item phrasing and were composed of either all positive, all negative or a mix of items. Different factor solutions underlying…

Clinical psychologists have traditionally shared the results of psychological tests with other professionals but have withheld this information from their clients. Thus, clients have been encouraged to rely on experts without taking an active part in their treatment. To determine whether college students could validate the accuracy of their own…

The College Board's Spanish Listening-Reading Test, designed to measure student ability and knowledge, is required of all students with previous knowledge of Spanish, however acquired, who have no college credit in Spanish and who intend to enroll in University of Texas, Austin, Spanish course. With satisfactory performance on the test, eligible…

Factor analyses of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) have typically yielded three factors: two generally understood to reflect basic verbal and performance dimensions and one about which there is no consensus with regard to what is measured. The aim of the present study is to elaborate the meaning of the third factor by…

Coventional true score approaches to criterion-referenced tests are not applicable when tests are used for classification. Criterion-referenced testing is now used frequently for educational decision making. The assumption is made that these instruments are to be considered as tests designed to classify into "mastery" and "non-mastery" groups,…

This handbook deals with the specifics of integrating teaching and testing in the context of high school classes. It is part of a school-based staff development program for high school teachers and is designed to have faculty members in a department work as a team. Colleagues are asked to help one another develop instructional units and courses…

This document traces the development of the testing and reporting system used in the Elkhart Community Schools (ECS), Indiana, from 1981 through 1985. Performance objectives were established when the program was initiated. Analyses of standardized test results were provided for teachers, principals, and central administrative staff. All school…

Misconceptions high school students have about constructs in the BASIC programming language were examined in this study. A total of 96 high school students received a screening test after a semester course in BASIC programming, and 56 of these students were subsequently interviewed by means of questions and short programs prepared in advance. The…

Argues that there is room for both those tests that focus on stable between-individual gains, and discusses how to evaluate a test along both the psychometric and edumetric dimensions. (Author/JM)