An area of current concern is that of the advantages and disadvantages of measuring writing proficiency directly via writing samples, and indirectly via objective tests. Much research has been completed documenting the correlation between direct and indirect measures. However, there had not yet been a systematic and detailed conceptual analysis…

Eleven units on typing and related occupations are presented in this teacher's guide. The unit topics include the following: refining typing techniques; correcting originals and carbon copies; typing outlines, business forms, business letters and envelopes, memoranda, telegrams and cablegrams, minutes, agenda, itineraries, speeches, manuscripts,…

An investigation of: (1) the relationship between the American College Test (ACT) English Usage Test scores and demonstrated writing proficiency, and (2) the relationships between and among other objective tests and writing proficiency was undertaken, using three samples of college freshmen. Although results indicated a moderately high…

Because of the active interest of English teachers in standardized tests and the increased use of such tests to measure student performance, the emphasis section of this issue of "The English Record" contains articles addressing this subject from several perspectives. A report of a survey on standardized testing in New York State sets the scene,…

Probabilistic testing involves having the examinee assign probabilities to each of the options of a multiple-choice item. These probabilities reflect the student's perception of the correctness of each option. What is presented in the paper is a rationale for probability testing, the current theoretical and empirical findings, and some suggested…

The 1972 assessment activities in the Massachusetts schools concentrated on the areas of citizenship and science, utilizing two seventh grade samples of 10,000 students each, with each group completing only one assessment form. The testing program utilized National Assessment Items for age 13, as well as a few items from the Measurement Research…

A multiple true-false item is one where a testee has to identify statements as true or false within a cluster (of two or more) of such statements. Clusters are then scored as items. This study showed such a procedure to yield less reliable results than traditional true-false items. (JKS)

Seven formulas for scoring test items with two options (true-false or multiple choice with only two choices) were investigated. Several conditions, such as varying directions for guessing and whether testees had prior knowledge of the proportions of false items on the test were also investigated. (Author/JKS)

The hypothesis that multiple-choice exams load higher on Level II ability than on Level I ability was confirmed by correlating multiple choice tests with the Cognitive Abilities Test Nonverbal Battery, the forward digit span test, and essay measures. Differences in scores among Asian, black, white, and Mexican American students are discussed in…

While many teachers view the current trend in education toward more formal methods of assessment with considerable anxiety, there seems to be little coherent expression of the part that assessment should play, and the form it should take. Outlines an approach to assessment that seems appropriate and supports educational requirements in a primary…

Provided is information on the development, operation, and evaluation of an item bank for multiple choice questions in physics. While the users of the bank are presently limited, the item banks has saved its members time and provided items and ideas for items. (MA)

This article discusses the first draft of three objective tests given to students of English as a foreign language in a high school in Rome, Italy. Students' answers on the tests (Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Grammatical Structures) are analyzed. The tests will be rewritten, based on these observations. (Text is in Italian.)…

Criticizes the California Assessment Program (CAP) prior to l987 for testing writing skills objectively. Describes the specific improvements in the new CAP Directed Writing Assessment which focuses on the most important characteristics necessary to a particular type of writing rather than those that are common to all types.(NH)

Reports that no significant difference in reliability appeared between a heterogeneous and a homogeneous form of the same general science matching-item test administered to 316 sixth-grade students but that scores on the heterogeneous form of the test were higher, independent of the examinee's sex or intelligence. (SB)