This paper reports on an assessment of the cognitive skills section of the "Test of Communication Knowledge." The test was designed by Dr. Rebecca B. Rubin to evaluate learning by undergraduate communication majors in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University (Ohio). In particular, the test is based on a set of…

Continuing education students are usually mature students who have a wealth of experience from which their peers and the lecturer could profit. An effective teaching method with such students is the use of cooperative work assignments, but a problem that prevents lecturers from using this method is the difficulty of assigning grades to individual…

This technical report focuses on the decision-making potential provided by second language performance assessments. First, performance assessment is situated within the broader discussion of alternatives in language assessment and in educational assessment in general. Next, issues in performance assessment design, implementation, reliability, and…

This paper focuses on how best to evaluate student achievement in science. Many issues such as issues of test construction, validity, and reliability, and how to measure hands-on achievement must be considered. Qualitative evaluations are harder to explain, but can yield valuable information. The use of portfolios is an example of a technique that…

The purposes of this study were to devise and provide validity and reliability data for scores on an instrument measuring attitudes toward school violence and to develop importance ratings of the items based on data from teachers in a high school that had experienced a highly publicized violent episode. Two independent samples were used. Based on…

This study investigated preservice, inservice, and college teachers' reasons for making assessment and grading decisions. A survey examined their perspectives about a case study that presented a grading dilemma in which a teacher, "Sarah", assigned grades based on criteria that were potentially invalid and unreliable. Participants analyzed the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of local item dependence (LID) in passage-based testlets on the test score reliability of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading comprehension test from the perspective of generalizability (G) theory. Definitions and causes of LID in passage-based testlets are reviewed within the…

This paper reports on a study that investigated the reliability and validity of a school-environment measuring instrument: the School Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ). Results were compared to teachers' and principals' perceptions of actual and ideal school environments. The questionnaire was sent to 60 schools throughout Australia where it…

An instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of constructivist teaching methods, the Constructivist Teaching Inventory (CTI), was developed and assessed, the assessment focusing on the validity and reliability of the instrument. A pool of items measuring the presence of identified elements of constructivist teaching was developed; items were…

This boxed set contains a wide-range, comprehensive set of tests for measuring reading achievement and related abilities. The tests are administered individually, and norms are provided from age 4 to age 90. Special college/university norms are also provided. It consists of 10 measures. The scores from different combinations of these tests provide…

This field memo is the third in a series of updates from the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education to all teachers and administrators of public and nonpublic schools on standards and assessments in New York. This document explains how the New York State Education Department determines if test…

A 20-item survey was designed in 4 forms with response set direction as "strongly disagree" (SD) to "strongly agree" (SA) and SA to SD crossed with the absence or presence of negatively worded item stems. The primary research question related to finding a primacy effect when comparing the two response direction formats. Surveys…

This study examined the generalizability and dependability of a performance-based assessment in algebra. Four forms of a five-item test were constructed using different subsets of eight items based on attributes from task analysis. Subjects included 142 "algebra 2" students from 2 high schools in the Midwestern United States and 148 11th…

This paper reports on the development of a scale to identify a child's emotional and behavioral skills, competencies, and characteristics, the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: A Strength-Based Approach to Assessment (BERS). The BERS is a 52-item scale that identifies strengths in five areas: interpersonal strengths, family involvement,…

This document contains the technical information for the 1998 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), Grade 4 Assessment for Reading, Mathematics, Listening, and Writing. It documents the technical quality of the assessment, including the evidence for the reliability and validity of test scores. The manual's chapters are: (1)…