Intended for teachers and students, this document presents updated information about the design, the sections, and the scoring of the Grade 12 diploma examinations in English 30 and 33 for the 1985-86 school year in Alberta, Canada. It contains blueprints illustrating the relationship between the content and scoring of writing and reading test…

This paper describes the development and investigation of a new approach to determining the existence of bias in multiple-choice test scores. Previous work in this area has concentrated almost exclusively on bias attributable to specific test items or to differences in test score distributions across racial or ethnic groups. In contrast, the…

Intended for independent study directors, course authors, and directors of home based or distance learning projects, this collection of current, practical guides on correspondence course development contains fourteen chapters authored by practicing home study educators and experts in their field. From Theory to Practice lists steps in course…

The first paper presented at this conference on the evaluation and effective teaching of nursing students discusses the theoretical perspective on evaluation--that is, steps in writing and validating tests. A worksheet on multiple choice item types, with examples appropriate for nursing education, is included. The second paper discusses the…

This paper reports on a pilot study conducted to determine the possible use of the cloze procedure as a substitute measure of achievement in a second-year Spanish culture and civilization class. Twenty students enrolled in a third-semester Spanish class at the University of Colorado were simultaneously given multiple choice tests and cloze tests…

The survey instrument was developed for use with students in grades seven through twelve to determine their career guidance needs. It is an 84-item multiple-choice questionnaire which elicits information on career planning, student interests, self-awareness, and student perceptions of the counselor's role. The authors state that since extensive…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether option weighting improved the internal consistency and intercorrelation of the subtests. The differential option-weighting scheme employed in this study is based on one devised by Guttman. The tests were first scored with Guttman-type weights and then with conventional correction-for-guessing…

This bulletin attempts to explain the use and limitations of regularly the process of selecting educational areas which should receive additional interpret adequately their meaning to parents and students. A companion publication "Understanding Testing Purposes and Interpretations for Pupil Development," also prepared by HEW, was issued in 1960. A…

This paper presents and evaluates different types of student assessment measures--including discussion-generating questions, multiple choice questions, essay questions, and authentic projects--for on-line courses. The paper asserts that assessment should mimic how students will be evaluated on the job site in the real world, meaning that they…

Factor analysis was used to determine whether computerized patient management problems had the same factor structure as multiple choice examinations and rating scales. It was determined that the factor structure was similar to the examinations but not the rating scale. (JKS)

Reports on a pilot study designed to assess the potential of computer-marked tests for allowing students to monitor their learning. Students' answers to multiple choice tests were fed into a computer that provided a full analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Students responded favorably to the feedback. (MJP)

Presents a study that examined student knowledge of place-name geography in a Georgia school system that systematically included geography education at all grade levels. Findings indicated that these students identified correct locations more frequently than adults in any of the nine nations in the 1988 Gallup survey. Includes the test used in…

Although numerous programs have been developed for Grade Kindergarten through 12 science education, evaluation has been difficult owing to the inherent problems conducting controlled experiments in the typical classroom. Using a rigorous experimental design, we developed and tested a novel program containing a series of pharmacology modules (e.g.,…

The development and validation of a test of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency are described. The measure is a multiple-choice test based on translation of a literary text from English to Arabic and vice versa. Intended for rapid student placement, it is seen as overcoming most of the defects inherent in traditional translation tests.…

Despite the many limitations of standardized tests, schools use them to determine if children are ready for school, to group students for instruction, to diagnose learning disabilities and other handicaps, and to guide and control the curriculum and teaching methods. No test is good enough to serve as the sole or primary basis for important…