In considering the problem of measuring achievement for the evaluation of school effectiveness, there are at least three questions that need to be answered: (1) What is to be measured? (2) How is it to be measured? (3) How are the results to be analyzed? Following a discussion related to the first two questions--determining content objectives and…

Expanding on the original "Miscue Inventory," this book examines various miscue analysis procedures and discusses how they provide teachers with effective methods for understanding and measuring students' reading processes. The chapters are divided into three parts, focusing on miscue analysis and the reading process, miscue analysis…

This paper discusses the use of latent class structure as a modelling framework for tests in which much of the data conforms to a relatively small number of systematic patterns. Application of this framework to the analysis of tests has been limited because available parameter estimation algorithms can only handle a relatively small number of…

This study investigates the validity of second language vocabulary tests, and whether or not test scores accurately reflect the quality of language behavior in real-life situations. It attempts to prove the validity of vocabulary testing by comparing test scores to indices of vocabulary richness in second language production. The student subjects…

The psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess study behaviors of college and university students were examined. A convenience sample of 1052 undergraduates at a group of midwestern colleges and universities and at a four-year college in a United States Caribbean territory responded to the Study Behavior Inventory (SBI), Form D. A…

The development of the oral component of the Test in English for Educational Purposes (TEEP) for foreign students in British universities was undertaken using information from previous oral test development efforts and a survey of 645 university admissions officers concerning students' communication skill needs. The resulting test is intended to…

A quality assurance model for assuring quality in the development of course objectives and classroom and exit examinations is presented. Called the Course Development Model, it was an outgrowth of a 1985 pilot study conducted at the University of Central Florida. The study found that more than 100 faculty who completed a questionnaire did not…

This report provides an overview of the current applications of computer technology to construct test items and/or to formulate tests according to sound measurement principles. The test items may be computer-generated from strategies programmed by test constructors, or pre-constructed by item writers and stored in computer memory. The tests…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores methods of listening and speaking skills assessment. The digest first provides a rationale for teaching and assessing listening and speaking skills. It then examines definitions of oral communication and listening, noting (1) the trend toward defining oral…

While a broad range of tests is available for second language testing, two of the basic approaches are developmental and non-developmental testing. The former is based on psycholinguistic evidence that language development is systematic, with all learners progressing through the same stages. The latter includes content selected in an ad hoc…

Appropriate evaluation can greatly enhance the teaching process, and this resource packet is designed to help make testing more efficient. Tests and test items are featured in these listings, and information on test construction is provided. The various sources which are highlighted include: (1) professional organizations; (2) journals and…

An overview of the research needed on the new Test of Written English (TWE), a section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), looks at research needs in the areas of test validity, test reliability, topic development, and equating. Suggested topics for study include: the uniqueness of the construct measured by the test, in…

In order to construct a plan drawing test for emotionally disturbed children, 1,250 children from 6 to 15 years old were asked to draw plans of their houses. Forty items in this cross-sectional sample illustrate a regular and rapid increase with age from the purely vertical pictures of houses at 6 years to the mainly horizontal representations at…

If a loss function is available specifying the social cost of an error of measurement in the score on a unidimensional test, an asymptotic method, based on item response theory, is developed for optimal test design for a specified target population of examinees. Since in the real world such loss functions are not available, it is more useful to…

This is one of a series of reports which provide definitions of and descriptive data on the variables used in the Comparative Study of Phase IV of the Individually Guided Education (IEG) Evaluation Project. Phase IV investigated three curriculum programs specifically designed to be compatible with instructional programming for the individual…