This publication discusses the role of Language Sample Analysis (LSA) in identifying language disorders, providing detail necessary to initiate a focused intervention program, and providing a method for monitoring progress in language intervention. Section 1 provides an overview of the LSA process and types of language disorders, while Section 2…

The dominant issues in considering the use of tests developed outside the classroom to measure the impact of curriculum reform on higher order thinking are reviewed by a panel interviewed for this discussion. Panel members are: (1) Stuart Kahl, (2) Robert Linn, (3) Senta A. Raizen, (4) Lauren Resnick, and (5) Thomas A. Romberg. It is conceded…

This paper presents a followup of selected studies on effective schools with a population of bilingual and/or limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Over 150 research papers on both effective schools and effective bilingual LEP instruction were reviewed. The literature was divided into three categories: (1) studies with a population including…

A profile of state-wide educational assessment programs is constructed, and the means by which such programs have changed over time and may change in the future are discussed. Data for the study were taken from biennial surveys by the Association of State Assessment Programs, first conducted in 1977. This study covers data on time of survey…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics collects data from all sections of postsecondary education. For less-than-two-year institutions, the IPEDS collects data on fall enrollment, completions (earned awards and certificates), etc., from all public institutions in that category and…

Effect sizes have been increasingly emphasized in research as more researchers have recognized that: (1) all parametric analyses (t-tests, analyses of variance, etc.) are correlational; (2) effect sizes have played an important role in meta-analytic work; and (3) statistical significance testing is limited in its capacity to inform scientific…

This report describes efforts to develop sampling methods to be used in national or regional studies of migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFWs). Several facets of the MSFWs' lifestyle create sampling difficulties. One is mobility. Although the dynamic nature of MSFWs' movement is partly understood, it is sufficiently unpredictable to create…

Any systematic approach to the assessment of students' ability implies the use of a model. The more explicit the model is, the more its users know about what they are doing and what the consequences are. The Rasch model is a strong model where measurement is a bonus of the model itself. It is based on four ideas: (1) separation of observable…

Research on assessing the cultural fairness of individual test items is reviewed, with emphasis on Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic model. As defined in this review, differential item characteristics are exhibited when examinees from one group have a lower probability of answering correctly than do examinees of equal ability from another group.…

Data were extracted from the public use samples of the 1970 and 1980 United States censuses in order to (1) determine how successful the American media have been in hiring more racial minorities and women, (2) evaluate how changes in the media labor force correlate with changes in the nature of the news and information that the news media produce,…

This report presents 1980 census data on the geographic distribution of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The 1980 census was the first one to identify the total Asian and Pacific Islander population and its subgroups. Information on the total Asian and Pacific Islander population is shown for the United States, regions,…

Field tests of test items are useful in developing cutting scores for important tests, such as teacher certification examinations and high school graduation tests, because they indicate test item quality and estimate future examinee performance. However, field test data may provide a faulty indication of examinee performance on the real test.…

Innovative methods devised to obtain the desired number of Anglo, Mexican American and American Indian women for a study of the health of recently widowed low income women are explored. Social and health service agencies proved generally unable to assist by contacting their clients. Different techniques were found to be successful for recruiting…

The third follow-up survey associated with the High School and Beyond (HSB) Study was conducted during the spring of 1986. This report provides information that fully documents major technical aspects of the third follow-up sample selection and implementation, describes the weighting procedures, examines the possible impact of non-response on…

This report presents the conceptual framework and major features of the new design for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as conducted by Educational Testing Service beginning July 1983. It comprises three major chapters. The first chapter reviews the social and environmental changes that demand reconsideration of NAEP. The new…