The first annual administration of Oklahoma's School Testing Program is described, and the results for 1985-86 are summarized. The Metropolitan Achievement Tests were administered in grades 3, 7, and 10. Extensive appendices, which make up the bulk of this document, present: (1) suggested learner outcomes for the subjects tested--reading, language…

Three aspects of student assessment are addressed in this collection of essays: accountability issues and the political tensions that they reflect; assessment practices, the use and misuse of testing, and emerging directions; and the impact of assessment. The collection includes: (1) "Expansion, Quality, and Testing in American…

The reactions of local educators (teachers, principals, and central office personnel) to the initiation of statewide mandatory minimum competency tests and the effects of implementing these testing programs were studied. Variations among school districts within two states were considered. Items from a survey of individual educators were combined…

This manual is intended to provide Illinois school districts with guidance in developing learning assessment plans and using testing materials as part of the school improvement program mandated by the 1985 educational reform legislation for Illinois. Designed primarily to be a series of "how to" booklets, the manual is divided into six…

The 1986-1987 annual report on the Intellectual Skills Development Program (ISDP) at Western Michigan University is presented. The program is designed to identify new students who do not meet entry-level competencies in reading, writing, and mathematics, and to provide academic support for these students. In reviewing assessment policies and…

This paper details the development of the high school general mathematics examination and reading comprehension tests for grades one through eight for the curriculum referenced testing program in Charleston County School District, South Carolina. While the basic developmental approach was similar, problems encountered in developing the two types…

A study was conducted in fall 1985 to determine how well students at San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) were prepared in reading, writing, and mathematics, comparing students by ethnicity, high school status, and age. SJDC uses the Comparative Guidance Placement (CGP) Tests to to assess all new students who do not have an Associate of Arts degree or…

Survey results have suggested that, while teachers like to have test information available, most do not have great skill or consistency in interpreting test score data. Teachers who consider a certain type of test very valuable or useful are less likely to question the accuracy of the scores than are teachers who consider a test to be of little…

An educational testing program at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), developed for juniors entering its school of education, evaluates their characteristics, the nature and extent of subject matter weaknesses, the need for and nature of remediation, and the relation of subject matter and basic skill achievement to success in methods…

This paper introduces a probabilistic model that is capable of diagnosing and classifying cognitive errors in a general problem-solving domain. Item response theory is used to deal with the variability of response errors. Responses from a 38 item fraction addition test given to 595 junior high school students are used to illustrate the model.…

A pre/post experimental-control design was used to evaluate a social studies curriculum based upon inquiry methods. Subjects were 308 eighth-grade students. The results indicated that there were no significant changes in creative thinking, attitudes toward power, understanding of power concepts, and problem-solving skills as a result of experience…

As part of the current trend toward adopting modern, objective-standardized test methods in evaluating the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the schools of the Socialist Republic of Romania, this review of pedagogical literature makes available to the English-reading audience information that has appeared in Romanian materials.…

The design and outcome of a bilingual education program evaluation emphasizing the instructional and attitudinal variables of the bilingual education program presently in operation is described. The purpose of this program evaluation emphasizing needs assessment is to gather base-line data for continued evaluations in the following years. The…

The main features of courses taught according to the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) as described by Keller are reviewed, along with the use of repeated testing and undergraduate tutors. The PSI approach is also evaluated in terms of final exam performance, study behavior, and student ratings, based on a study conducted at York…

The annotated bibliography describes 13 standardized tests appropriate for use with American Indians from preschool through high school levels, furnishing authors, copyright date, appropriate age level, physical format (microfiche), and publisher. A separate listing provides names, addresses, and telephone numbers of 33 major U.S. publishers of…