Research on assessing the cultural fairness of individual test items is reviewed, with emphasis on Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic model. As defined in this review, differential item characteristics are exhibited when examinees from one group have a lower probability of answering correctly than do examinees of equal ability from another group.…

This report contains the 1982-83 results of the annual administration of the California Assessment Program's Survey of Basic Skills to 3rd, 6th, and 12th grade students in the Mount Diablo School District. The survey measures the reading, written language, and mathematics skill attainment of schools and districts, but not of individual students.…

This special report documents the results of the program of credit by examination offered at the University of Texas at Austin during the 1984-1985 testing year. The data present a basis for a comprehensive picture of the impact of the program on this campus. The examinations covered 64 subject areas with 234 courses taught by 39…

In certain situations, grade equivalent scores are the most appropriate statistic available for reporting achievement test data. It is noted that testing practitioners have found that raw scores, normal curve equivalents, stanines, and standard scores are very useful. However, it is best to convert to either grade equivalents or percentiles before…

This report summarizes some of the literature focusing on specific aspects of the cultures of American Indians and the concommitant testing and assessment problems. The issues of non-competitiveness, language barriers, and a high incidence of middle ear disease among American Indian children are examined as they affect the assessment process. The…

Three types of evaluation methods are discussed in terms of their use in evaluating both cognitive and affective learning in developmental programs: standardized tests; criterion-referenced tests; and naturalistic inquiries. Section I looks at the complexities of learning and the inherent difficulties in judging the quality and quantity of what is…

In fall 1984, the first group of potential Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) graduates took the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) as a requirement for obtaining an associate degree or being admitted to the upper division at a state university. Of the 997 first-time test takers, three quarters passed the test. A study was conducted to…

Data compiled from more than 2,000 member institutions of the National Testing Network in Writing were the source of this guide to writing assessment. Using an interdisciplinary approach, with insights from cognitive psychology, sociology, linguistics, educational measurement, rhetoric, and English education, the book gives suggestions on…

An amendment to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) mandated an assessment of the basic skills of all Summer Youth Employment and Training (SYET) Program enrollees. Many agencies in California used the Employability Competency System Appraisal Test to assess 1987 SYET participants' basic reading and math skills. Between June and October 1987,…

The widespread use of testing to make critical individual decisions concerning education or employment opportunities, coupled with growing vigilance by the handicapped community, may mean increased legal scrutiny regarding this type of testing. The measurement community is also aware of difficult, perhaps unresolvable psychometric problems…

This study investigated the effects of two factors on learner performance during computer-assisted instruction: locus of control, and varied feedback strategies. It was hypothesized that learners who attribute their successes and failures to internal events (Internals) will perform best under delayed feedback conditions, while those who attribute…

The Texas Examination of Current Administrators and Teachers (TECAT), is a basic literacy test that was administered to 202,000 practicing educators in March 1986. The test was developed in response to state action for educational reform. The Texas reform legislation provided for redistribution of resources to poorer schools and for salary…

A longitudinal field study conducted in Turku, Finland, traced the development of aggression as a function of the viewing of violence by children from the ages of 7 and 9 to the ages of 15 and 17 to explore the connection between violence viewing and viewers' aggression, and to shed light on the question of causality. The 220 subjects, both male…

Key elements in the construction of an operation were an integral part of an empirical study designed to test practical, pedagogical implications of the Piagetian model of cognitive growth. A total of 49 kindergarten children were pretested to determine their levels of seriation and classification operations. Pretests were conducted with a battery…

To determine the analysis of variance among different assessments of teaching competencies shown by preservice education students as student teachers, 32 undergraduates certified in 1985 and 42 from 1986 were studied. Data were obtained on their self-evaluations of 25 teaching competencies. Evaluations by their cooperating teachers (35 in fall…