Developed from a comparison of the writing performance of eighth grade students in Delaware with a representative national group, this writing resource guide provides a detailed description of the state's writing assessment procedure and offers educators guidance in evaluating student writing and improving student writing skills. After describing…

This manual gives teachers information about the score reports they receive after participating in the Tennessee Career Ladder evaluation process. It also contains a discussion of the scoring and equating process used to calculate the results. The score report consists of the following: (1) a summary; (2) results by domain; (3) results by…

In 1982 the Dade County Public Schools (Florida) began developing test item banks for secondary subject areas, because other testing programs have limited utility for assessing the quality of curriculum, instruction, or learning in specific content areas. In May l984, the approximately 17,000 seventh graders enrolled in Life Science and the…

This study reports a preliminary investigation into the relationship of different subsets of student attitudes toward economics. A 49-item attitude form was developed with six subscales representing distinct aspects of attitudes toward economics: (1) satisfaction with current grasp of economics; (2) capability for understanding economics; (3)…

The potential of a cognitive model task analysis scheme (CMS) that specifies features of test problems shown by research to affect performance is explored. CMS describes the general skill area and the generic task or problem type. It elaborates features of the problem situation and required responses found by research to influence performance.…

A method for translating the achievement gains in Normal Curve Equivalents (NCE) to a more conceptually understandable index of academic growth is described. This method calculates "Expected Growth (EG)" and expresses the relationship of observed achievement gains. The method is shown to be easily applied and well suited to local…

This study examines the relationship between student mobility and achievement test results in predominately Black and Hispanic Community School District 17, Brooklyn, New York. The project is designed to assess the impact of mobility on pupil achievement and the interpretation of achievement data, as well as to map the pupil population mobility. A…

The proposed standard for judging proficiency test score reliability requires that the proportion of items passed for each objective assessed be a dependable estimate of the universe score for the domain strata established by the objective. Domain breadth is the focusing issue. Data from a field trial of the Tennessee Proficiency Test are analyzed…

During the 1982-83 school year, the California Achievement Test (CAT) was administered to students attending Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) in grades 3,5,8 and 11. This report describes and displays the county-wide and school test results which are further broken down by racial/ethnic group and sex. An analysis of the data…

Mastery learning is described as a system for providing a unit-by-unit sequence, and arranging that each unit be successfully mastered by each student before they begin the next unit. This process requires mastery tests to control the rate of student progress. The proper setting of score levels to represent mastery is a difficult task. The claim…

Research partially supported by the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation of Instructional Programs.

The Language Arts Test of Cognitive Functioning (LATCF) was investigated to determine if the measure could give specific information about the thinking required for language arts tasks. The LATCF was developed by the author and consists of six anecdotes or tasks that the student must solve or complete. The anecdotes are built on six functions that…

Designed for helping teachers improve classroom instruction with the help of tests, this handbook highlights the different kinds of tests that indicate important things about student performance: (1) teacher-made tests used to assess student learning; (2) diagnostic tests, prepared by a test publishing company; (3) achievement tests, prepared and…

The background out of which "truth in testing" legislation arose is reviewed in this report, which also describes existing state and federal testing legislation, details arguments raised in hearings on the legislation, analyzes the legal issues raised, and provides a framework for simplifying the arguments and gathering more information.…

A new method of analysis was used in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program to test minimum competencies in fourth grade reading achievement. This technique permitted a substantial decrease in testing time and costs. The original test consisted of 95 items measuring 19 objectives; mastery was indicated by correct responses to four out of the…