A sharp decline in the number of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) candidates scoring over 600 (on a scale of 200-800), has been observed from 1969-70 through 1974-75. Several suggested explanations of this phenomenon relating to test-taking patterns are discussed. Specifically examined are the possibilities that fewer students take the SAT more than…

Hypotheses explaining the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score decline have been advanced in letters to the College Entrance Examination Board and to the Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test Score Decline, in magazine articles, and in newspaper stories. A list of these hypotheses are presented and categorized according to changes in the…

The measurement of change is such a broad topic that this article must limit its focus to a few specific subtopics. These specific topics include: longitudinal research design, attrition in research studies, the statistical analysis of difference scores, and the comparison of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress (CAEP) is a continuing program designed to measure the efficiency of educational programs offered by public schools. During 1979-80, grades 4, 8, 11 were tested in science. The assessment goals were: to provide information on the quality of education in Connecticut; to collect and compare data…

Major conclusions highlighted in the summary of the 1980-81 ESEA Title I evaluation of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District are: using Title I and local funds to lower pupil/teacher ratios to 15:1 produced an effective compensatory education program; across grades, low-achieving students benefited more from lower pupil/teacher ratios…

The most recent College Board Admissions Testing Program (ATP) records of 1977-78 seniors who registered for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) of Achievement Tests before March 1978 are summarized. The records are for students from the middle Atlantic states that include New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, the District of…

Professional assessment of mental retardation (MR) and learning disabilities (LD) is crucial to the implementation of P.L. 94-142 because it necessarily precedes the employment of trained teachers and because a plan for remediation depends on accurate assessment. Intelligence is a key element in the identification of MR-LD, but competent, fair…

To explain the discrepancy between median scores on the 1976 administration of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) and the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), ten technical variables typical of achievement tests were considered as explanations. (1) The STEP may measure different…

The report traces the activities which led to the development of the adjusted weights--beginning with the basic National Longitudinal Study design, the base-year weight calculations, and the resurvey procedures. Next, the report describes the first follow-up weight calculations (including unadjusted student weights), nonresponse adjustment…

The effectiveness of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I reading and mathematics laboratories were evaluated to assess the improvement of underachieving elementary school students' academic skills. Laboratory students were selected on the basis of academic (rather than socioeconomic) criteria in grades 2 through 5; the control…

The Vermont Basic Competency Program is described, and its assessment results are reported for its second year of implementation. Data were collected on students in Vermont who were born in 1963, who are in the high school class of 1981 (which will be the first class to require mastery of 51 basic competencies for graduation), and who have already…

A non-experimental design was used to determine if scores of students enrolled in specified major coaching schools were significantly higher than scores of comparable uncoached groups. Score increases at two Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) coaching schools and Law School Admission Test (LSAT) schools were compared. Over 1,400 SAT examinees and…

The effectiveness of a model for determining a minimal cut-off score for criterion-referenced tests was examined. The model, based upon techniques presented originally by Nedelsky and by Angoff, was first used in conjunction with a multiple choice test developed for use in certifying school counselors in Georgia. A "knowledge estimation panel" was…

The strengths and weakness of standardized tests, and trends in achievement testing in the last 15 years are examined. The discussion of achievement tests includes survey, instructional, diagnostic, and basic skills tests, as well as tests used for formative and summative evaluation. Minimum competency tests are not examined in detail. Advantages…

The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine applies mastery learning concepts to an objectives-based curriculum and uses the Nedelsky method to assess mastery of core objectives. Provisions are made for remediating deficiences. The Nedelsky technique is used for determining an acceptable level of performance in multiple choice examinations…