This paper outlines the development of techniques for computer-based personality assessment from sentence completions. The One-Word Sentence Completion (OWSC) instrument was designed to elicit data suitable for machine processing, while retaining most of the advantages of a free-response format. Two operative scoring systems are described. The…

The British Columbia French Speaking Test, administered to grade 3 immersion students, measured their speaking skills through a story- retelling and group discussion task. When 110 immersion children were compared to 25 Francophone children, results indicated that the immersion children were comparable to the francophones in communicative skills…

There is a strong and consistent relationship between PSAT/NMSQT scores and AP Examination grades for nearly all courses--higher scores on the PSAT/NMSQT indicate a higher probability of success on AP Examinations. PSAT/NMSQT verbal or mathematics scores are often more highly related to AP Examination grades than overall high school GPA, number of…

This summarizes a study designed to provide a basis for researchers who study measurable areas of human performance or attempt to conceptualize and develop a theory and structure of abilities. Specifically, this study was directed toward the identification of tests that can serve as markers for well established cognitive factors. (Author/CTM)

This review of research on second-language oral testing outlines the nature of early research in interview-format proficiency testing, then reports on new directions in investigation of construct validity of interview-format and other oral skills tests through examination of examinee, interviewer, and rater performance. Research on empirically…

The most prevalent factors in the academic success of African American male undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina were studied. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) mathematics and verbal scores and high school rank were the independent, cognitive variables; and self-esteem, academic self-concept, religiosity, African…

A handbook designed to acquaint college and university language departments with recent developments in oral proficiency testing gives an overview of the rationale, development, procedures, and implications of oral proficiency evaluation. The discussion is placed in the context of college and university language teaching. An overview section…

A necessary prerequisite to the operational use of item response theory (IRT) in any testing program is the investigation of the feasibility of such an approach. This report presents the results of such research for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Despite the fact that GMAT data appear to violate a basic assumption of the…

The feasibility of pre-equating, or establishing conversions from raw to scaled scores through the use of pretest data before operationally administering a test, was investigated for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Item-response theory based equating methods were used to estimate item parameters on SAT pretest data, instead of using final form…

This paper presents a critique of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's (N.W.R.E.L.) review of the Mat-Sea-Cal Oral Proficiency Tests in their publication, Oral Language Tests for Bilingual Students. That publication was released in July, 1976 as a guide to administrators and program coordinators in the selection of instruments for…

An ongoing series of experiments has extended Rose's information processing approach to job performance assessment. Each study investigated cognitive tasks from the literature on memory, psycholinquistics, and visual information processing, for potential inclusion in the test battery. Each task was then evaluated against three criterion areas: (1)…

This first report in the 1974-75 Michigan Educational Assessment Program presents the objectives of the assessment program and indicates in detail some of the specific procedures to be used. The program provides achievement measures for grades one, four, and seven. The measures at all three grades are objective-referenced tests constructed through…

This report is a summary of the results of the administration of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Proficiency Tests to native speakers in Chile, Columbia, France, German, Italy, and Spain. The notion of a "superior" level of competence in reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking a second language is specified…

The rubrics are designed for productive use (speaking and writing) of English and Spanish in two-way bilingual immersion programs. The rubrics were developed by classroom teachers working in elementary school Spanish partial immersion programs, in consultation with a special education teacher, reading specialist, middle school partial immersion…

The analysis of North Carolina performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is part of a larger program addressing the improvement of public school students' performance on skills measured by the SAT. This second of two volumes presents individual school system profiles for the mathematics and verbal sections of the SAT for the 126 school…