The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) is an individually administered test of intelligence for assessing children aged 6 through 16 years, 11 months. The WISC-III consists of several subtests, each classified into a verbal or performance scale. The child's performance on these measures is summarized in three…

Sensing an urgency among faculty and administrators to design writing assessment programs, this book presents a programmatic approach to writing assessment that combines holistic scoring with a programmatic emphasis and on-going program evaluation. The program described in the book was successfully conducted with rising juniors at a rural…

The development of the "Directories of Unpublished Experimental Mental Measures" is traced. Two decades ago, the senior author of this research began the compilation of a list of non-standardized experimental test instruments developed by behavioral and social sciences researchers. Making this information available was intended to help…

The concept of a user-specified validity sector is discussed. The idea of the validity sector combines the work of M. D. Reckase (1986) and R. Shealy and W. Stout (1991). Reckase developed a methodology to represent an item in a multidimensional latent space as a vector. Item vectors are computed using multidimensional item response theory item…

As high-stakes use of tests increases, it becomes vital that test developers and test users communicate clearly about the accuracy and limitations of the scores generated by a test after it is assembled and used. A procedure is described for portraying the accuracy of test scores. It can be used in setting accuracy targets during form construction…

This paper describes what teachers need to know about performance assessment to do it well. First, they should know what performance assessment is and why anyone should care. One thing that has to be emphasized is that there are two parts to a performance assessment: the tasks and the criteria. Teachers tend to be better at developing rich and…

This publication provides a reference for educators and others interested in conducting comparative studies relative to North Carolina tests. It includes norms, tables, and other statistical information for all state-developed tests (state-mandated and local-option tests for which baseline data are available) that were administered during the…

The essays in this collection consider the meaning of authentic assessment and the implications of its use. "Section 1: Assessing Assessment" includes the following essays: (1) "The Nation's Report Card Goes Home: Good News and Bad about Trends in Achievement" (Robert L. Linn and Stephen B. Dunbar); (2) "Budgets, Politics, and Testing" (Chris…

This book is designed to align assessment with instructional practices that promote the development of the multiple intelligences outlined by Howard Gardner. To facilitate the use of multiple assessments for the multiple intelligences, the information in this book is transferable to the classroom. The book explains how a teacher can design…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has conducted state assessments in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. At present, after the fourth round of state assessments, it is clear that the program is generally successful. A survey of state testing directors indicates that the NAEP has considerable credibility as a valid and reliable source…

Career decision making is an important aspect of life. At some point one must decide what type of job to apply for or whether to seek education for a specific career. Many individuals struggle with these decisions. Unfortunately, multidimensional measures of uncertainty are needed in providing guidance to such persons, because it appears the…

As part of a major effort to raise student achievement, Colorado schools have been putting into place rigorous academic content standards that spell out the skills and knowledge students should acquire in core subject areas. This guide contains information about part of this effort, the new Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), to help…

The new Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) was developed to provide a measurement of how well students and schools are meeting Colorado's academic content standards. The CSAP tests are not norm-referenced showing how much a student has learned in comparison with other students. Instead, they are based on the state's content standards.…

This document describes state and local elementary and secondary education standards developed for academic achievement and assessment of student progress in Missouri. In response to the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, the Show-Me Standards were established to represent knowledge students should acquire and how they should be able to communicate…

The third of three reports resulting from a study of the developing proficiency of adult migrants in English as a Second Language (ESL), this document describes the outcomes of a Victoria, Australia, research and development project to develop mechanisms for implementing evaluation procedures within the Adult Migrant Education Program (AMEP). The…