This manual is intended to provide students, teachers, counselors, and other school personnel with a set of practical instruments and procedures designed to measure the generalizable mathematics skills of students in secondary vocational programs. Three types of assessment instruments and procedures are presented and discussed: (1) student…

The New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) is designed to measure basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills of students entering New Jersey colleges. The test consists of five sections: Essay, Reading Comprehension, Sentence Sense, Mathematical Computation, and Elementary Algebra. The test is intended to answer the question…

The validity of teacher locus of control (TLOC) as measured by an instrument adapted for this purpose was studied. The construct refers to the individual's perception that changes in his or her environment result from internal or external factors. An adaptation of a scale developed by R. C. Taylor et al. (1981) was used to measure TLOC. The first…

A 32-item Computer Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) was developed to measure perceptions of capability regarding specific computer-related knowledge and skills. Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (1986) and Schunk's model of classroom learning (1985) guided the development of the CSE. Each of the skill-related items is preceded by the phrase "I feel…

The use of the cloze procedure by classroom teachers who are not extensively trained in testing in general or language testing in particular is discussed. Focal points are material selection for cloze; some technical aspects of construction and administration; insights about testing language students naive to cloze; reliability of cloze…

This report presents an analysis of a student evaluation survey, the Uniform Student Evaluation Survey (USES), used to provide a systematic, campus-wide basis for meaningful feedback on the instructional effectiveness of college teaching at Christopher Newport College (Virginia). This study addressed three issues as to the reliability, validity,…

The Statewide Assessment Program, administered by the Alaska Department of Education, tests all fourth and eighth graders in math and reading biennially. In 1985, the Department's Office of Evaluation, Assessment and Research undertook an evaluation of the assessment program to identify procedures which needed improvement and to determine the…

A study investigated the use of a narrative discourse task to test oral English proficiency in non-native speakers for screening and placement. The subjects were Japanese university freshmen entering a five-level course in spoken English. The subjects were shown an animated cartoon of a Japanese folk tale, with narration in Japanese, and later…

Perspectives on testing and grading are considered; and strategies, reference materials, and sample test items are presented. Attention is directed to specific impacts of testing and grading on students and teachers, purposes of testing and grading, and common complaints of students and teachers. Extra activities proposed for the teacher include…

This test manual provides information on the development, characteristics, and use of the Individualized Instruction Inventory (III), a 64-item behavioral instrument designed to assess the extent to which community college instructors use individualized instruction in the classroom. The manual begins by providing a brief overview of the III,…

The materials presented were developed for use in a series of conferences on testing and instruction sponsored by the National Institute of Education, with the United States Office of Education, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, and a network of research and development agencies. They are intended for use by school practitioners and…

The Children's Fear Expression and Research Survey (Children's F.E.A.R.S.) is a new self-report measure of fear suitable for children in grades two through six. The survey is designed to meet current psychometric standards and to be useful in both clinical and research settings. Originally 200 test items were drawn from existing measures; from the…

Sixteen Family Practice faculty members completed ratings on 59 senior medical students after a 6-week primary care clerkship. Each student was rated by seven to ten faculty members and the chief residents who worked with them, resulting in a total of 353 ratings. The rating scale covered: (1) attainment of learning objectives; (2) progress during…

The paper presents data about applying the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale (CSCS) to an Australian population. Data were obtained from 402 randomly selected male and female, primary and secondary school students, representing all school systems (195 from Grades 3 and 4, 207 from Grades 10 and 11). Anaylsis conducted on the two age…

This paper reports on Educational Testing Service research studies investigating the parameters critical to reliability and validity in both the direct and indirect writing ability assessment of higher education applicants. The studies involved: (1) formulating an operational definition of writing competence; (2) designing and pretesting writing…