The concept of testing for partial knowledge is considered with the concept of tailored testing. Following the special usage of latent trait theory, the word valdity is used to mean the correlation of a test with the construct the test measures. The concept of a method factor in the test is also considered as a part of the validity. The possible…

Intended primarily for secondary school administrators, teachers, and counselors, this booklet summarizes the information available, as of 1965, about the ways special coaching or tutoring may affect students' scores on the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Coaching refers to the variety of methods used in attempting to increase, in…

Lack of emphasis on oral aspects of language in the Irish Leaving Certificate foreign language examinations has long been considered by teachers to be the chief reason for their inability to implement the aims of modern language teaching in Ireland. These aims are stated in the Department of Education's "Rules and Programme for Secondary…

A questionnaire survey was developed to measure the attitudes of students toward the Air Force Traffic Safety Course. Mandatory for virtually all personnel entering the Air Force, this course was taught in a standardized multimedia format at more than 140 locations . It was a 10-hour course of instruction covering environmental hazards, vehicle…

The Administrator Professional Leadership Scale (APLS) was developed to measure the professional leadership quality of a school principal, and to provide principals with anonymous feedback on teachers' perceptions of their leadership. Further refinement was carried out to increase its reliability; to discover categories of administrator behavior…

Procedures for determining cutting scores have been proposed by Angoff and by Nedelsky. Nedelsky's approach requires that a rater examine each distractor within a test item to determine the probability of a minimally competent examinee answering correctly; whereas Angoff uses a judgment based on the whole item, rather than each of its components.…

The reliability of multiple choice tests--containing different numbers of response options--was investigated for 260 students enrolled in technical college economics courses. Four test forms, constructed from previously used four-option items, were administered, consisting of (1) 60 two-option items--two distractors randomly discarded; (2) 40…

Cross-referenced to instructional objectives defined in a previous publication, (Guidelines to Mathematics, K-6), the Wisconsin Mathematics Test can be used to measure achievement gains over a given year, or to detect student strengths and weaknesses, by correlating missed items with the objectives. It is also possible to compare results on a…

The Preschool Academic Skills Test was developed from an analysis of first-grade reading and mathematics materials to identify those behaviors that were assumed to be in students' repertoires prior to first grade. The 105 items are grouped in 10 subtests: Vocabulary, Color Naming, Classification, Functional Relationships, Visual Matching, Auditory…

This report describes the general plan for a study to clarify the interpretation of group performance measures of student achievement. Group tests are the most efficient procedure for collecting achievement information from a large number of students, but they also require item formats that may be different from the form in which students normally…

The feasibility of generating multiple-choice test questions by transforming sentences from prose instructional materials was examined. A computer-based algorithm was used to analyze prose subject matter and to identify high-information words. Sentences containing selected words were then transformed into multiple-choice items by four writers who…

The precision and efficiency of a cognitive test constructed by three different methods of item analysis was compared, using the verbal aptitude subtest of the Florida Twelfth Grade Test. Classical item analysis, factor analysis and the Rasch logistic model were used in the construction of 15 and 30 item subtests and replicated for samples of 250,…

The objective of this study was to develop a highly reliable instrument for primary grade students which was relatively culture free and could accurately identify each child's dominant language. In addition, it should provide normative data regarding the child's fluency in his two most predominant languages. This test, known as the Test of…

This report is part of a general study of Reference Measures for Cognitive and Noncognitive Factors. The main activity being reported is the development of "factor-referenced" or "marker" tests for several recently identified cognitive factors. A secondary activity involves the study of possible relationships to factors already…

A long-term Leverhulme Research Project was established at Stirling University in 1970 to investigate the potential of microteaching as a major ingredient in the preparation of graduate high school teachers in Scotland. Members of the research team developed systematic observation schedules for each of the skills, in order to sharpen the focus of…