Research in first language and second language (L2) comprehension has demonstrated that both learner and input variables contribute to the ease with which a message is understood. Questions remain, however, as to how these variables affect the way L2 learners process linguistic form during comprehension. This study examines how one learner…

This study was designed to find out if students taught food and nutrition concepts using the lecture method and practical work would perform significantly better than their counterparts taught with the lecture and teacher demonstrations and the lecture method only. The sample comprised 114 Jamaican 10th-graders (56 boys, 58 girls) selected from…

This study examined the relationship between scores on "speeded" cognitive and academic tests and the need for the accommodation of extended test time for normally achieving students (NA) and students with learning disabilities (LD). Often, in postsecondary settings the decision to provide the accommodation of extended test time is based…

This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study explored how the encoding of text ideas is affected when students with learning disabilities (LD) take notes from Web-based text. In the quantitative phase of the study, 15 students took three kinds of notes--typed, copy and paste, and written--with each kind of notes addressing a different topic.…

In this article, the author describes how she maintains student interest with the use of advanced technology. The author is currently using an assessment tool in her classroom--the Classroom Performance System (CPS)--that actually brings cheers from her students. The CPS provides an objective way to measure student understanding by using…

Operating from multiple literature bases in cognitive psychology, mathematics education, and theoretical and applied psychometrics, Schilling, Hill and their colleagues provide a systemic approach to studying the validity of scores of mathematical knowledge for teaching. This system encompasses an array of task formats and methodologies. The…

This report describes three exploratory studies of the performance of males and females on the multiple-choice and constructed-response sections of four Advanced Placement Examinations: United States History, Biology, Chemistry, and English Language and Composition. Analyses were carried out for each racial or ethnic group with a sample size of at…

A new free-response item type for mathematics tests is described. The item type, referred to as the Student-Produced Response (SPR), was first introduced into the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 1993 and into the Scholastic Aptitude Test in 1994. Students solve a problem and record the answer by…

A good knowledge of English vocabulary is important for anyone who wants to use the language, so knowledge of vocabulary is often tested. A test may test one or all of the types of vocabulary (active spoken, active written, passive listening, and passive reading), but the test maker should be aware of the differences among the types and which is…

In contrast to multiple-choice test questions, figural response items call for constructed responses and rely upon figural material, such as illustrations and graphs, as the response medium. Figural response questions in various science domains were created and administered to a sample of 347 fourth, 365 eighth, and 322 twelfth graders. Data were…

A practice test has been prepared to give students experience with test items that are similar to those on the Ohio Ninth-grade Proficiency Tests. The practice test consists of one writing prompt, 20 reading questions, 20 mathematics questions, 25 citizenship questions, and 20 science questions. This manual contains instructions to the teacher, as…

The domination of the information processing approach has shifted research from problem solving strategies to the structure and organization of knowledge that characterizes expertise. The purpose of this study was to compare the reasoning processes of 12 clinicians and 40 medical students as they responded to 6 positively stated multiple choice…

Setting standards on performance measures is discussed in the context of the State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) initiative supported by the Council of Chief State School Offices. The usual item-based methods for standard setting, the methods developed by Nedelsky (1954), Angoff (1971), and Ebel (1972), were developed…

The purpose of this study was to compare the reliabilities of two-, three-, four-, and five-choice tests using an incremental option paradigm. Test forms were created incrementally, a method approximating actual test construction procedures. Participants were 154 12th-grade students from the Portland (Oregon) area. A 45-item test with two options…

Performance assessment is reviewed as an emerging form of alternative assessment, focusing on how it has been defined in the research literature, the criteria for evaluating its authenticity, the measurement of process and product, and the link between assessment and instruction. Three important dimensions that must be considered in describing…