The DX SYSTEM of Diagnostic Testing is an easy-to-use computerized system for developing and administering diagnostic tests. A diagnostic test measures a student's mastery of a specific domain (skill or content area). It examines the necessary subskills hierarchically from the most to the least complex. The DX SYSTEM features tailored testing with…

This journal issue addresses the issue of testing in the social studies classroom. The first article, "The Role of Testing" (Bragaw), focuses on the need for tests to reflect the objectives of the study completed. The varying functions of pop quizzes, weekly tests, and unit tests are explored. "Testing Thinking Processes" (Killoran, Zimmer, and…

The School Subjects Attitude Scales were developed to measure student attitudes toward school subjects. It is intended for use in grades 5-12. Reliability estimates were sufficiently high to warrant using the Scales for responses of groups, but not with individuals. Various criteria confirmed the scales' validity. Large groups of public school…

Even though several national testing firms have developed measures to evaluate the effectiveness of baccalaureate education, there continues to be a general reluctance on the part of faculty in colleges and universities to accept these measures as criteria on which to evaluate educational programs. Some of the resistance appears to lie in the lack…

The development of the emerging technology of item writing was motivated in part by the desire to reduce potential subjectivity and bias between different item writers who attempt to construct parallel achievement tests. The present study contrasts four test forms constructed by the combined efforts of six item writers using four methods of item…

A study assessed the applicability of the American Institutes for Research (AIR) procedures' Performance-Against-Standard form for use in personnel evaluation by the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service. The study also compared relevant test construction approaches identified in the literature to those used in the AIR study in attempting to confirm…

This study used classical psychometric, latent trait, and nonparametric approaches to analyze 13- and 14-item scales of English language proficiency. Tests of English listening comprehension (dictation) and reading ("copytest") were constructed by modifying the standard dictation testing procedure to create items of text segments which…

The purpose of this paper is to report the research that took place during the development of the "ENRIGHT Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Arithmetic Skills." This is a criterion-referenced test designed to provide educators with information useful for changing instructional strategies based on known error patterns of students in grades 1 through 9.…

For almost 20 years, student achievement in the United States has been measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported in recent years as "The Nation's Report Card." Based on a sample size of 25,000 students at each of three grade levels, it has provided the only data that reflect in a comprehensive way what…

Interest in state level assessment compared with national assessment is increasing in many states. This report makes 12 recommendations to the U.S. Department of Education and to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grantee on how state achievement data from 1990 mathematics assessments should be measured and reported by NAEP,…

A brief overview of item response theory is provided, and a 186-item bibliography of books and articles on the subject dating from 1953 to June 1989 is presented. The overview includes a definition of the theory, a discussion of its development and application, and comparisons with classical test theory. All publications in the bibliography were…

This survey was developed by the Ohio Sea Grant Education Program in 1979. It is been used every four years as a repeated measure of Ohio students' knowledge and attitudes about the oceans and Great Lakes, charting changes in those attributes as means of determining how well Ohio citizens are being prepared for decisionmaking about those bodies of…

The purpose of this paper is to compare the utility of the information yielded by the classical and latent trait psychometric models when they are used to examine the psychometric qualities of an instrument designed to assess school-related stress. The instrument, known as the School Situation Survey (SSS), is described, and efforts to determine…

This package consists of an information booklet for job candidates preparing to take California's Probation Officer Examination and a user's manual intended for those who will administer the examination. The candidate information booklet provides background information about the development and validation of the Probation Officer Examination,…

A group of 261 college juniors, seniors, and graduate students anticipating careers in mental health professions were administered an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward old age (people 65 and older). The instrument consisted of 60 statements regarding old age, and used a six-point Likert-type scale. Items were categorized into 10…