Describes efforts to design a method of assessing community college students' entry-level writing skills, which compared the predictive validity of three methods of evaluating writing skills: writing samples, objective tests, and self-assessments. Results of these scores were correlated with students' success in writing courses. (CAM)

The validity of several criticisms of objective tests is addressed, and the viability of some alternatives to objective testing is discussed. Evidence against multiple-choice tests is not as strong as has been claimed. Authentic assessments may not always be better, and research about new forms of assessment is necessary. (SLD)

This study investigated the technical adequacy of 7 objective indexes of writing quality in monitoring the progress of 36 middle school students with mild disabilities over a 6-month period. Three indexes (such as "percent of legible words") were moderately correlated with holistic ratings but were not sufficiently stable over time. (Author/JDD)

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 article reports on a study into the impact of students' use of the Internet and the computer at home on digital skills they need for school. The study was conducted in the lower grades of Dutch secondary education (students aged 13-15). More than 2500 students, distributed over 116 classes in 68 schools, participated in the study. Internet…

The "Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems" of the National Forum on Assessment, 1995, proposes a view of testing and assessment in elementary and secondary education that challenges the basic concepts and practices underlying the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" of the American…

A strategy is proposed for combining scores from multiple-choice achievement measures with performance assessments. The specific situation discussed involves the revision of a curriculum-based multiple-choice and performance assessment testing program for grades 1 through 6 for a large school district. Reading, language-arts, and mathematics…

The roles of assessment and testing within public employment and training programs supported by the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (JTPA) were examined through a review of the literature and two surveys of the JTPA system. In 1987, the Center for Remediation Design and the Center for Human Resources (CHS) at Brandeis University in Waltham…

The use of optical scanners and computers in educational testing is common where objective testing methods (such as true-false, matching, and multiple-choice items) are well-established means of evaluating educational achievement. Where non-objective testing methods (such as fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, and essay items) have been more common,…

The shortcomings of the conventional way of using and interpreting multiple-choice tests are summarized. Some theories and methodologies that can be applied for better use multiple-choice test items are described. Empirical facts are introduced to support the theoretical observations. New strategies are proposed that will reduce "noise"…

This handbook provides guidelines for teaching test-taking skills to students of all grade levels to help the students raise their standardized test scores. Topics covered include: understanding instructions and following directions, efficient use of time, intelligent guessing, and application of special strategies for multiple-choice and…

An attempt was made to develop an objective instrument to assess a teacher's perceived engagement in reflective practice. A Reflective Teaching Instrument (RTI) was developed around three dimensions of reflective practice in teaching: (1) diagnosis (problem setting); (2) testing; and (3) personal causation. Indicators of each of the dimensions…

Many local and state education agencies in the United States now mandate annual assessments of student writing ability. To comply with these mandates, schools across the country have developed a variety of assessment procedures. To determine the "state of the art" of large-scale writing assessment in the country, a questionnaire was sent…

Data were collected for a brief objective English test, the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE), and for subsequent essay writing performance in four institutions. Data were then pooled across the four institutions and subclassified into four groups: males, females, majorities, and minorities. The groups were then compared with respect to TSWE…

Nineteen units on filing, office machines, and general office clerical occupations are presented in this teacher's guide. The unit topics include indexing, alphabetizing, and filing (e.g., business names); labeling and positioning file folders and guides; establishing a correspondence filing system; utilizing charge-out and follow-up file systems;…