College seniors--129 who were 25 years of age or older, and 734 younger students were administered the objective portion of the American College Testing (ACT) College Outcomes Measures Project (COMP) test. The total COMP scores and subscores were compared for the two groups, as well as their entering ACT scores and grade-point averages using…

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is purported to be less culturally biased than other, traditional measures of intellectual ability. The present study was designed to investigate three specific research questions: (1) Are there overall performance differences between Native American and non-Native American children on the WISC-R…

The advantages of computerized adaptive testing are discussed, and an example illustrates its use in sixth grade mathematics. These tests are administered at a computer terminal, and the test items to be administered are selected according to the difficulty level appropriate to the individual's ability. Tailoring increases the psychometric…

The Speech Reception Test was developed to measure an individual's ability to hear and understand conversational speech. The equipment used to record the test is described in detail, and data are given for the results of the test given to 100 normal-hearing college students. Other data describe the results for 55 military veterans with known…

An apparent discrepancy between building level scores in basic skills produced by Pennsylvania's state assessment program (EQA) and building summary scores, generally a grade equivalent, provided by commercial standardized achievement tests is investigated. The impetus for the study came from occasional reports by school administrators that their…

Some of the technical issues associated with legislation to regulate testing and one alternative to test scores in the admissions and student selection process are discussed. Technical issues that must be addressed in order to accommodate full and public disclosure include equating, test administration, scoring, and score reporting. The need to…

A research project carried out by the Southwestern Cooperative Educational Laboratory attempted to define and describe characteristic learning styles and related environmental factors of children of 2 minority groups in the Southwest. Students of Spanish American and Indian descent were subjected to specific tests, and comparative analyses were…

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, degree of item bias, and testing strategy. Computer simulation was used in the administration of either a conventional or Bayesian adaptive ability test to a…

Raw scores on most standardized educational and psychological assessment instruments acquire meaning only when referenced to a set of norms. Test publishers should clearly describe their norming procedures, including the target population and the sample on which the norms are based. The primary purpose of this report is to illustrate some of the…

The New Hampshire statewide testing program was implemented to provide a data base for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Title I projects as required by Federal law. To accomplish this objective, achievement and intelligence tests were administered to children in Title I projects and regular programs in four elementary grades--2, 4, 6 and 8.…

Based on the premise that in situations where the subject requires visual identification, where students cannot see the subject physically from the standpoint of the instructor, and where there is a high dramatic impact, color and television might be significant factors in learning, a comparative evaluation was made of: color television, black and…

To determine the effectiveness of the CERLI program in Charleston, Illinois, for training a Specialist in Continuing Education (SCE), an attempt was made to determine whether the program had effected behavioral changes enabling the participants to function in this new role. Because of insufficient data and certain constraints, this hypothesis can…

This paper considers the question of bias in group administered academic achievement tests, bias which is inherent in the instruments themselves. A body of data on the test of performance of three disadvantaged minority groups--northern, urban black; southern, rural black; and, southwestern, Mexican-Americans--as tryout samples in contrast to…

Results of research performed to determine whether or not newly enrolled freshman students improved after one and one-half quarters of composition instruction at Western Illinois University are presented. Using an essay-type placement test given at initial enrollment as a pre-test, 158 students were selected as the experimental group to write…

Two types of computer-administered unit quizzes in a systematic pathology course for second-year medical students were compared. Quizzes composed of questions selected on the basis of a student's ability had higher correlations with the final examination than did quizzes composed of questions randomly selected from topic areas. (Author/JAZ)