Testimony and exhibits presented at subcommittee hearings held in Washington, D.C., from July 31, 1979 through October 11, 1979, are compiled with reference to two proposed bills concerned with standardized admissions tests. The first, the Truth in Testing Act of 1979, H.R. 3564, requires all educational admissions testing conducted through…

This paper specifies the assessment of those language skills that are needed for effective writing by students in grades one through six. Specifications are included for language skills such as language usage, grammatical knowledge, diction, sentence production, specific writing techniques, and verse (poetry) skills. An introductory section…

This paper specifies the assessment of those general discourse skills that are needed for effective writing by students in grades one through six. The general discourse skills include planning/organizing, elaborating, proofreading, and editing. An introductory section provides background materials, including explanations of how the skill…

This paper specifies the assessment of those writing skills needed by first through sixth grade students to produce specific discourse products, including descriptive writing, narrative writing, expository writing, persuasive writing, poetry, personal letters, and business letters. An introductory section provides background materials, including…

An approach to implementing competency-based education programs using a combination of self-instructional modules, individualized management processes, and group instructional techniques was designed and used for a comprehensive consumer education program incorporated into various high school business education programs. This instructional…

This study investigated the feasibility of using the ordering theoretic procedure with multiple choice items, and its usefulness as an interpretive aid for intelligence test data. Data from two components of a group-administered multiple choice intelligence test (Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Tests) were analyzed using ordering theory procedure for…

Problems in constructing criterion referenced tests related to inadequate technical criteria, and guidelines for their solution are discussed. The need to select a well-defined domain of behaviors is emphasized as the key to test construction and to understanding students' test performance. Considerations must also be given to the most effective…

A test of problem solving behavior which provides information about the mastery of the prerequisites of the problems has been developed for fourth grade children. Each problem solving question is preceded by two other questions which assess the child's understanding of the information contained in the actual question, and an application question…

A student testing system was developed consisting of computer generated and scored equivalent but unique repeatable tests based on performance objectives for undergraduate chemistry classes. The evaluation part of the computer system, made up of four separate programs written in FORTRAN IV, generates tests containing varying numbers of multiple…

Four statistical methods for identifying biased test items were used with data from two ethnic groups (1,691 black and 1,794 white high school seniors). The data were responses to 150 items in five subtests including two traditional tests (reading and mathematics) and three nontraditional tests (picture number test of associative memory, letter…

This article suggests criteria for evaluating listening comprehension tests. The weaknesses of typical test items are discussed and suggestions for new types of items are given. (CFM)

The multiple choice technique can test written and oral comprehension and linguistic competence at beginning and intermediate levels. Examples of test items concerning sounds, stress, vocabulary, and structures are presented, and brief comments on the items are included. (SW)

Performance of 100 college freshmen on the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, Part II, Tests of Achievement, were analyzed by subtests and cluster scores to determine appropriateness for assessing achievement of handicapped students. Minor inversions in item order and pronounced ceiling effects on all subtests yielded lowered subtest and…

Presents major stages in design and development of criterion referenced tests (CRT) with emphasis on differences between CRT construction and norm-referenced test construction. Discussion covers test interpretation; test theory; preparation for test construction (hierarchical analysis, item type selection, and choosing number of items); test…

To estimate reading difficulty of items on a sentence repetition task, a study had 50 adult English as a second language (ESL) students repeat each of 26 sentences immediately after two presentations. High-difficulty items were derivationally more complex than low-difficulty items, and the most difficult items involved the processing of…