The potential educational import of noncognitive personal characteristics is examined with particular reference to problems in their measurement. Attention is drawn to some dangers and difficulties in using noncognitive measures in educational practice, and to the need for safeguards against misuse. (Author/RD)

A discussion is presented which includes the following topics: purposes of testing, planning your test, instructional objectives, testing understanding, testing computation, testing applications and problem solving, evaluation and diagnosis, marking, and communicating with parents. (MK)

Scores on the male and female scales of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory were compared for college students (N=525) to evaluate the claim that male scales should be used with female counselees. Both sexes scored higher on opposite-sex scales. Score relationships support using only same-sex score interpretations with counselees. (Author)

A study with 804 undergraduates finds that Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 protocols that contain random responding with an onset after item 370 can be distinguished from protocols with an earlier onset of random responding. Results suggest that protocols with late random responding may be interpretable in terms of basic clinical and…

The use of achievement levels and anchor points in press reports of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics assessment was studied. In a review of 41 articles, widespread oversimplification and frequent misinterpretations were found, sometimes stemming from standards-based reporting. Implications for future standards-based…

Contends that there is no literacy crisis in the United States. Notes that research on college-level proficient readers has indicated that reading educators are doing a better job of educating students to become mature readers and that even at the elementary level the news is better than most people realize. Suggests that the conception of reading…

Explores relevant research on appropriate use of adaptive behavior measures as assessment tool with handicapped children in institutional settings. Presents issues in adaptive behavior assessment and guidelines for practitioners to provide an empirical rationale for test interpretation. (Author/CM)

Comments on McShane and Plas' study relating Indian children's academic achievement gains to scores on psycholinguistic and intelligence tests. Questions the applicability of the instruments used, and points out problems related to multiple regression techniques, collinearity of predictor variables, and use of achievement gain scores. Contains 15…

The degree to which test item bias techniques can lead to interpretable results when groups are defined in terms of specified differences in the cognitive processes involved in problem-solving strategies was studied. Data from two groups of junior high school students (N=545) were used. (TJH)

Fifty-six school psychologists reviewed a hypothetical case study designed to investigate their interpretations of different norm-referenced test scores. Subjects were more likely to recommend special education programs for normal students when percentile scores were used. School psychologists need to become more familiar with the properties of…

Instead of decoding sentences, good readers build meaning by integrating their knowledge with the text. Reading assessment must shift from traditional quantifiable tests to a portfolio system incorporating multiple measures and indicators of expertise. Michigan and Illinois efforts to translate interactive reading theory into assessment practices…

An expanded framework for validating tests is needed to include the perspectives of teachers and students as well as of test makers and scientists. The development of educational assessments must take place within an understanding of how tests are used in context. (SLD)

A study investigated whether internal medicine training program directors found feedback on their students' test performance helpful in understanding where their residents ranked nationally. Results suggest that directors have learned to rank their own candidates against a common standard but may have lowered the standards they used. (MSE)

Six methods of scoring multiple true-false items were compared in terms of reliabilities, difficulties, and discrimination. Results suggest that, for norm-referenced score interpretations, there is insufficient evidence to support any one of the methods as superior. For criterion-referenced score interpretations, effects of scoring method must be…

Reviews recent theoretical, methodological, and analytical developments in language testing, focusing on more refined models of language ability, reliability and validity, performance testing, innovative test formats, new applications of Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory to test performance. An annotated bibliography discusses seven…