This study assessed the influence of test anxiety and self-concept, both independently and in combination, on student test performance across four subject matter areas: (1) English; (2) mathematics; (3) reading; and (4) science. Public high school students (N=217) in northern Oklahoma were administered an American College Testing Program (ACT)…

If teachers do not determine children's understandings and beliefs the children cannot be challenged. Five individual units are presented that have the intention of drawing out the underlying beliefs that children hold with respect to various aspects of science. "Skateboard News" is a newsletter which discusses aspects of skateboards and…

Using data from a pilot test of science and math from students in 30 high schools, item difficulties were estimated with a one-parameter model (partial-credit model for the multi-point items). Some items were multiple-choice items, and others were constructed-response items (open-ended). Four sets of estimates were obtained: estimates for males…

This report examines the potential of adaptive testing, two-stage testing in particular, for improving the data quality of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Following a discussion of the rationale for adaptive testing in assessment and a review of previous studies of two-stage testing, this report describes a 1993 Ohio field…

The scoring method that will be applied in the current 12th-grade science assessment project of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Educational Research and Assessment is described. The method, "graded mark-point" scoring, is modeled after procedures developed by P. Tamir for use in the performance exercises of the Israeli…

While the 1960s and 1970s came to be known as the era of curriculum development in science, it appears that the 1980s and the 1990s will be known as the time of curriculum development with strengthened attention to implementation and evaluation. This book examines the assessment of elementary school science and provides numerous examples of…

Work is reported towards the completion of a prototype duplex-design assessment instrument for grade-12 science. The student course-background questionnaire and the pretest section of the two-stage instrument that was developed were administered to all 134 12th-grade students at St. Clairsville High School (Ohio). Based on the information obtained…

The objective of this study was to investigate how classroom questioning and discussion skills, designed to increase scientific literacy and problem solving performance, affects student achievement in biology and chemistry. The two independent variables for this study were the effects of wait time and supportive intervention. The dependent…

Based on the premise that multiple choice tests can be used as diagnostic tools for teachers in identifying and remedying student misconceptions, this study focused on the development of an instrument for diagnosing secondary students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration. Information is presented on: (1) procedures of development of…

The novelty of deaf student teachers teaching normal ninth grade biology classes may increase motivation to learn subject matter if sign language lessons are oriented toward specific kinds of knowledge. Since Gallaudet University (Washington, D.C.) places deaf undergraduate student teachers in schools with normal hearing students, the effects of…

The four chapters in this resource book provide general considerations for the development of teacher-made achievement tests in science for students with visual, hearing, and/or orthopedic impairments. Chapter 1 focuses on changes in classroom testing by considering the testing of handicapped students, norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced…

Three purposes of this study were to: (1) propose some organizing theoretical and observational definitions of the anchor construct; (2) present some initial findings from a diagnostic test designed to uncover anchors for high school physics instruction; and (3) provoke an initial discussion of the new methodological issues that arise in this…

This study sought to determine the cognitive levels of questioning of end-of-chapter test items accompanying selected fifth-grade science textbooks. The extent to which test items emphasized high level questioning and significant differences among texts in the distribution of knowledge and above-knowledge-level test items were also investigated.…

This document was developed to provide eighth-grade teachers in New York City with a sequence of instructional activities in science. The major portion of the guide is divided into four instructional units. The first unit, "Chemistry," includes lessons and activities on liquid solutions, suspensions and emulsions, acids, bases,…

This 35-item, multiple-choice Marine Education Knowledge Inventory was developed for use in upper elementary/middle schools to measure a student's knowledge of marine science. Content of test items is drawn from oceanography, ecology, earth science, navigation, and the biological sciences (focusing on marine animals). Steps in the construction of…