This document describes the systematic approach used at Philips High School (PHS) in Birmingham, Alabama, to collect, store, and use various diagnostic tools when assisting special population enrollees with choices influencing their educational/occupational goals. It explains how the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) is used in combination with…

A divergent thinking (DT) test format, scored for flexible and original thinking, is presented. The DT test format, designed to assess teacher competencies and estimate the transfer of competencies to new situations, was administered to graduate students enrolled in a testing course. The DT format allowed students to list phrases and sentence…

The University of Texas at Austin conducted a validity study of the College Board Achievement Test in Russian Listening-Reading during the 1986-87 academic year. The test, a multiple-choice test with audio-taped and reading portions, was administered to 298 students in 22 sections of 8 courses in Russian. The purpose was to revalidate the test as…

The MAT-6 Writing Test (The Psychological Corporation, 1986) was administered to Oklahoma students in grades 7 and 10 in February 1989, in compliance with state law. The inception, implementation procedures, assessment instruments, and results of the Writing Assessment Component of the Oklahoma School Testing Program are described. District-level…

The autonomous model of literacy--including its two features autonomy of text and autonomy of skill, which have been particularly influential in reading assessment--does not account for important aspects of reading. The pragmatic model of literacy accounts more adequately for how readers respond to text. An analysis of the 1976 and 1987 versions…

Two major issues are addressed in this commentary on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment: the design of the reading proficiency scale and interpretation of test data; and the dimensionality of this scale and the possibility of supplying data on specific skill dimensions. An examination of NAEP data and the…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) currently tests seventeen-year-old students enrolled in public and private secondary schools, but it does not test "out-of-school" seventeen-year-olds who have either graduated or dropped out. Estimating that one of five seventeen-year-olds is out of school, the interpretability of…

Nearly 15,000 students were administered the Alaska Statewide Assessment Test--virtually all fourth and eighth grade students. Preliminary results indicated that eighth graders made substantial improvements in both reading and mathematics performance. Fourth grade scores were basically unchanged since 1983. There was also little change between…

Linear and equipercentile equating conversions were developed for two forms of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) quantitative test and the verbal-plus-quantitative test. From a very large sample of students taking the GRE in October 1981, subpopulations were selected with respect to race, sex, field of study, and level of performance (defined…

The usefulness of studying thought processes in the construct validation of ability tests was examined using a sample consisting of 343 Canadian senior high school students. Four levels of probing were used by the interviewer to examine the students' thinking processes while taking the Test on Appraising Observations: (1) think aloud; (2)…

Increasing numbers of state-mandated testing programs have resulted in the selection of norm-referenced tests (NRTs) for statewide assessment. Adaptation or customization of existing tests has become a viable solution for individual programs. Changes in test instruments have arisen from the behaviorist approach and mastery learning, minimum…

This newsletter issue's feature describes difficulties the special child faces in acquiring social skills, and ways in which families and teachers can help. It outlines the socialization process beginning in early infancy, with eating habits being one of the first ways an infant is socialized into his or her culture. In early childhood, the…

This guide describes the background of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) program, objectives, and tests. It is designed to assist school personnel in reading and comprehending the student information contained in student performance data included in TABS reports. TABS is a criterion-referenced measure for assessment of student…

The results of the May 1984 British Columbia Reading Assessment were presented in this summary report. Highlights of the survey, summary tables of important results, and conclusions and recommendations made by the Contract Team were outlined. The students in grades four, seven, and ten completed achievement surveys and attitude scales. Five…

In the spring of 1985, the Oregon Department of Education conducted an assessment of eighth graders' skills in writing, reading, and mathematics. The state reading test consisted of two parts: the first designed to measure students' inferential and evaluative reading comprehension and selected study skills, the second designed to measure students'…