Technical improvements, which may be made in the reliability and validity of tests through confidence scores, are discussed. However, studies indicate that subjects do not handle their confidence uniformly. (MS)

This monograph documents the basis for selection of test items and health-related, criterion-referenced standards associated with the Brockport Physical Fitness Test (BPFT), a criterion-referenced fitness test for children and adolescents with disabilities. The manual is divided into separate chapters for the relevant components or sub-components…

This packet contains a student manual and instructor key for a course in housekeeping for health care facilities in secondary health occupations programs. The student manual is divided into six units: (1) introduction to housekeeping; (2) interpersonal relations; (3) infection control and safety; (4) general cleaning procedures; (5) cleaning areas…

The purpose of this essay is to explore both what is known and what needs to be learned about the information value of performance items "when they are used in large scale assessments." Within the context of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), there is substantial motivation for answering these questions. Over the…

Performance of 156 undergraduate and 48 graduate students on a self-adapted test (SFAT)--students choose the difficulty level of their test items--was compared with performance on a computer-adapted test (CAT). Those taking the SFAT obtained higher ability scores and reported lower posttest state anxiety than did CAT takers. (SLD)

Explored relationships between 137 grade-8 cognitive items used in the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress and selected themes from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics'"Standards." About half the items related to four "Standards" themes, with most of those being related to problem solving and reasoning.…

The transition from paper-based to computer-based assessment raises a number of important issues about how mode might affect children's performance and question answering strategies. In this project 104 eleven-year-olds were given two sets of matched mathematics questions, one set on-line and the other on paper. Facility values were analyzed to…

This article provides renewed converging empirical evidence for the hypothesis that asking test-takers to respond to text passages with multiple-choice questions induces response processes that are strikingly different from those that respondents would draw on when reading in non-testing contexts. Moreover, the article shows that the construct of…

This paper provides a summary of the authors' attempts to uncover links between their measures, classroom mathematics instruction, and student learning. This paper also provides evidence regarding one central critique of their measures: that multiple-choice assessments cannot validly represent the knowledge, skills, and judgment involved in actual…

This packet contains an instructor's manual, instructor's resource package, and a student workbook for an 18-week course in foods and nutrition for students in grades 10-12. The curriculum has the following goals: to help students apply science concepts and principles to their daily lives; to provide students with accurate information about foods…

This manual has been prepared by Ohio educators and the Ohio Department of Education to assist teachers in preparing their students for success in the Ohio Fourth-grade Proficiency Tests in Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Citizenship, and Science. Actual student responses to the April 1994 field test items are used in this manual to illustrate…

The cognitive processes students use in doing the 1996 science assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were studied using two booklets from the 1993 NAEP science field test. Blocks of items from these booklets, a hands-on task block and either a conceptual/problem solving block or a theme block, were administered to 16…

This report supplies details of the design and data analysis of the 1986 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to allow the reader to judge the utility of the design, data quality, reasonableness of assumptions, appropriateness of data analyses, and generalizability of inferences made from the data. After an introduction by A. E.…

This paper compares descriptive information based on analyses of the pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The AHSGE, a product of decisions made in 1977 and 1984 by the Alabama State Board of Education, is composed of subject tests in reading, mathematics, and language. The pass score for each…

The Diagnostic Assessments of Reading with Trial Teaching Strategies (DARTTS) is a program of diagnostic tests with sample lessons in aspects of literacy. Developed by Florence G. Roswell and Jeanne S. Chall, the DARTTS program is published in a multilevel format for beginning through advanced (high school) readers. Teachers administer and score…