Investigates the effects on multiple choice test performance of altering the order and placement of questions and responses. Shows that changing the response pattern appears to alter significantly the apparent degree of difficulty. Response patterns become more dissimilar under certain types of response alterations. (LS)

Fitting item response models to data from 2 Advanced Placement exams (18,462 and 82,842 students) demonstrates that constructed response items add little to information provided by multiple choice and that scoring on the basis of student item selection gives almost as much information as scoring on the basis of answers. (SLD)

This study reports on the development and initial testing of the Preschool Speech Intelligibility Measure (PSIM), a single-word, multiple-choice intelligibility measure. The PSIM was adapted from the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech and is designed to plot changes in children's intelligibility across time. (Author)

Suggests that teachers can combine the use of portfolios and tests to evaluate student performance without having to choose between one approach or the other. Discusses techniques to make portfolios and tests more indicative of student performance and achievement. (MDM)

Parental attitudes about standardized tests and performance assessments were studied through interviews with 60 parents or parent dyads in schools involved in a project to develop new assessments and through questionnaires completed by parents from control schools. Parent approval of standardized tests did not imply disapproval of performance…

A higher education version of the Diligence Inventory for Secondary Students was developed to address student effort in regard to his/her educational development. Undergraduate and graduate students completed the survey. The new version underwent some structural modifications in the scales, but both versions possessed excellent reliability and…

The mechanisms by which the health education profession is seeking to promote increased competency, visibility, marketability, and quality among practitioners include professional preparation in health education, certification by examination, and recertification. To clarify key concepts in health education credentialing, the article discusses…

This article gives a comprehensive description of a theory for efficient assessment of knowledge. The essential concept is that the knowledge state of a subject, with regard to a specified field of information, can be represented by a particular subset of problems that the subject is capable of solving. (SLD)

The Academic Motivation Profile is derived from theories of motivation. Researchers studied preservice teachers to refine the instrument, examine the relationship between undergraduate student motivation and achievement, and determine the instrument's utility for detecting group differences. The paper discusses the instrument's development,…

An 82-item multidimensional questionnaire, the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale, was recently developed in Italy to measure client satisfaction with psychiatric services. The scale contains 29 items from the English Service Satisfaction Scale. Psychometric characteristics and test use are discussed. Results support the use of the scale in service…

Shares some lessons learned from performance-based assessment in the health professions, using four performance-based assessment methods as examples: (1) written clinical simulations (patient-management problems); (2) computer-based clinical simulations; (3) oral examinations; and (4) standardized patients (live simulations). (SLD)

Described are important changes that will be introduced in the mathematics sections of the new Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The three main changes are (1) permission to use calculators; (2) inclusion of open-ended questions; and (3) content revisions consistent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Curriculum and Evaluation…

Prochievement tests, hybrids of proficiency and achievement tests, assess students' linguistic and communicative competence and provide a means for formative evaluation of student progress. Assessing Spanish listening comprehension/speaking proficiency, creating listening/oral proficiency test formats, and scoring are described. Guidelines for…

Reports the design of the "Mechanics Baseline Test," an instrument to assess students' understandings about concepts in mechanics. Discusses how comparisons of test results with extensive baseline data can be used to evaluate instruction at all levels. Includes a copy of the instrument. (MDH)

Using the Mayo Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) group (526 55-to 97-year-old adults), factor models were examined for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R); the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS); and a core battery of the WAIS-R, the WMS, and the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test. (SLD)