The Teacher Evaluation and Assessment Center (TEAC) was established by the Department of Education at the University of South Florida in 1984 to serve the state in the certification of trainers and observers of the Florida Performance Measurement System (FPMS) and to score and report performance evaluations for special programs. This report…

In order to compose equivalent certification tests in the basic skills in reading, mathematics calculations and applications, and writing for high school graduation requirements, the San Jose Unified School District, California, used the Rasch computer program to arrive at the scaled difficulty level of test items. The procedure for achieving a…

TAILOR is a computer program that uses the implied orders concept as the basis for computerized adaptive testing. The basic characteristics of TAILOR, which does not involve pretesting, are reviewed here and two studies of it are reported. One is a Monte Carlo simulation based on the four-parameter Birnbaum model and the other uses a matrix of…

Outlines a method to write multiple (four) versions of each examination. Reviews some advantages and disadvantages of multiple-choice and open-ended problems. Considers the writing and grading techniques used. Reports that the examination met the consistency requirement and received a good evaluation from students. (YP)

This report describes the development of a new tool for assessment research in graduate education. The tool, the Algebra Assessment System, is based on GIDE, a pre-existing program that diagnostically analyzes complex constructed responses to algebra word problems. The project had three goals. The first goal was to build a generically usable…

This document consists of a curriculum guide combined with separately published "simulations" and "test bank" volumes designed to support instructors using the curriculum guide. The curriculum guide was developed to provide instructional materials to teachers of microcomputer application courses in Texas. The guide contains the…

This handbook is intended for persons who might develop or use an item bank to support their testing program. An item bank is defined as a "large collection of distinguishable test items," with "large" explained as meaning that the number of items available is greater than the number to be used in any one test. The first section of the handbook…

This report and compilation of papers summarizes information collected by an Assessment Development and Use Project, initiated by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) to assist test development efforts by state and local agencies. Specific item banking applications are reported in two case studies, selected because they represent…

Parkrose School District's goal-based instructional program is designed to meet state minimal-competency requirements, keep the district's students abreast of national and local performance, and inform parents and the community of district students' progress. In response to public concern over students' declining basic skills, the state of Oregon…

To help classroom teachers construct mathematics tests, thirty-seven general objectives, corresponding sub-objectives, sample test items, and answers are presented. In general, sub-objectives are arranged in increasing order of difficulty. The objectives were written to comprehensively cover two categories: measurement and geometry. Measurement…

Information provided by typical and improved conventional classroom achievement tests was compared with information provided by an adaptive test covering the same subject matter. Both tests were administered to over 700 college students in a general biology course. Using the same scoring method, adaptive testing was found to yield substantially…

This paper represents a brief case study of delivering online examinations to a worldwide audience. These examinations are delivered in partnership with a commercial online testing company as part of the Industry Master's degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU). The Industry Master's degree is an academic program for students currently employed…

The problems and prospects of the field of foreign language computing are profiled through a survey of typical implementation, development, and research projects that language teachers may undertake. Basic concepts in instructional design, hardware, and software are first clarified. Implementation projects involving courseware evaluation, textbook…

The mathematics objective-item bank contains 100 objectives each represented by five to eight multiple choice items. Grade levels covered are one through eight. The objectives deal with such topics as decimals, fractions, geometry, graphs and charts, integers, numeration, problem solving, and whole number operations. The items have been field…

Greater knowledge about the practical application of Rasch technology can help in avoiding misapplications and confusions in testing programs. Equal interval curriculum-based scaling makes possible the following improvements in measuring basic skills achievement by enabling testing programs to: (1) individualize the difficulty level of…