Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this questions booklet contains 80 multiple choice test items based on the ten selections in the readings booklet. The questions examine the students' skills in (1) understanding meanings, (2) recalling materials read, (3) understanding and…

Intended for students taking Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test is designed to be administered with a questions booklet. The following short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and day-to-day functional materials are included: (1) "Interpreter" (Gary Hyland); (2) an…

A study examined whether ACT subtest scores can be used to predict reading skills, as measured by the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, with a degree of accuracy that would support their use as a screening device for college placement. ACT test scores of 2,431 students were used to predict Form C Nelson-Denny raw scores. ACT test scores from 3,016…

This study compares the contribution to measurement accuracy of the verbal score of each of four verbal item types included in the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test. Comparisons are based on item response theory, a methodology that allows the researcher to look at the accuracy of individual points on the score scale. This methodology…

"Helping One Student to Succeed" (HOSTS) is a nationally validated Chapter 1 exemplary program adopted by 24 schools in the Portland School District (Oregon) during 1984-85. Designed to help low performers learn to read by providing individualized instruction on a one-to-one basis through the use of volunteer tutors, HOSTS served 833…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 11 titles deal with the following topics: (1) teacher self-assessment and analysis of feedback to student miscues during oral reading; (2) the humor found in basal readers appropriate to second and fourth grade students; (3) an…

A sample of slightly over 1,500 students drawn from even-numbered grades in public schools of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) were given the 1973 edition of the Stanford Achievement Test (grades 2, 4, 6, and 8) and the Test of Academic Skills (grades 10 and 12) in an attempt to assess student academic achievement in the basic skill areas of…

Intended for teachers and students, this document updates information about the design, sections, and scoring of the Grade 12 diploma examinations in English 30 and 33 for the 1986-87 school year in Alberta, Canada. It contains blueprints illustrating the relationship between the content and scoring of writing and reading test assignments and…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test contains 80 multiple choice test items based on the ten readings in the readings booklet. The questions examine the student's skills in (1) understanding meanings, (2) understanding and interpreting the relationships between form and…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills in reading, language, and mathematics was administered to 3,417 second through twelfth grade students plus 201 resource room special education students for a total of 3,618 students, 97% of the student population in the Crete-Monee (Illinois) School District, in April, 1986. The test results were compared:…

A study was undertaken to describe assessment activities of four school districts in Maryland (Washington, Cecil, Montgomery, and Charles Counties) designed to parallel a state-mandated competency-testing program required for high school graduation and to report uses of scores and positive and negative impacts from assessment activities. The…

The proliferation of minimum competency testing in recent years has not resulted in a critical analysis of the construct validity of such tests. The present study examined the dimensionality and construct validity of an urban life skills competency test (the 1987 eighth-grade Chicago Minimum Proficiency Skills Test (MPST) via linear analysis. The…

Methods used to diagnose a seven-year old boy's reading problems illustrate the fact that reading assessments based upon a reader's strengths and a reader's understanding and control of the process will provide information which is more useful to teachers and parents than that provided by the numerical results of standardized tests. After Andrew,…

Once every three years, school districts receiving Chapter 1 funds are required to conduct a study of the sustained effects of their Chapter 1 programs. To meet this requirement, the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools employed a fall-spring test design to determine the degree to which pupils who participated in the Compensatory Language Experiences…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examinations in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following nine short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "The Biggest Liar in the World" (Harry Mark Petrakis); "Victorian…