Students taking the paper-based Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) mathematics test are permitted to bring and use their own hand-held calculators, and this policy was continued for the computer-adaptive tests (CAT) designed for use in talent search programs. An on-screen calculator may also be used with the CAT. The bring-your-own option has raised…

The objectives of this study were to develop, implement, and evaluate the year long project, Microcomputer Adaptive Testing High-Risk Urban Students (MATH-R-US). The project produced diagnostic software to meet the following criteria: (1) help students obtain high school mathematics credit needed for graduation; (2) motivate students to learn…

The Work Personality Profile-Self Report (WPP-SR) is a self-report work behavior instrument for use in situational assessment in work centers, comprehensive facilities, and employment settings. The WPP-SR assesses work attitudes, values, habits, and behaviors that are essential to the achievement and maintenance of employment. It consists of 58…

The student placement test in English as a Second Language used for the Eurocentres schools in the United Kingdom differs from traditional placement tests in that it is a vocabulary test and does not attempt to measure other aspects of learner knowledge of English. The test attempts to measure absolute size of the learner's English vocabulary. The…

In self-adapted testing (SAT), examinees select the difficulty level of items administered. This study investigated three variations of prior information provided when taking an SAT: (1) no information (examinees selected item difficulty levels without prior information); (2) view (examinees inspected a typical item from each difficulty level…

The use of paper and pencil, videotape recordings, and microcomputers in student testing provide three very different views of student achievement. Paper and pencil tests can record how students compose tests and documents, and how they critique documents or performances. Video recordings can record how students explain ideas, answer questions,…

The derivation of several item selection algorithms for use in fitting test items to target information functions is described. These algorithms circumvent iterative solutions by using the criteria of moving averages of the distance to a target information function and simultaneously considering an entire range of ability points used to condition…

This simulation study involved the design of two two-stage tests in which the routing tests and the second-stage measurement testlets took the form of a multidimensional knapsack problem with prespecified target informations and constraints to be enumerated using the algorithm of E. Balas. Two conventional tests of similar length to the two-stage…

This study developed a prototype occupational interest inventory for academically disadvantaged/functionally illiterate adults. The reliability and validity of the prototype were determined by comparing the results with those of a standardized commercially-available occupational interest inventory. A counterbalance design was employed with 30…

A two-stage study was conducted to compare the ability estimates yielded by tailored testing procedures based on the one-parameter logistic (1PL) and three-parameter logistic (3PL) models. The first stage of the study employed real data, while the second stage employed simulated data. In the first stage, response data for 3,000 examinees were…

Project Computer-Assisted Instructional Management (C-AIM) is being pilot tested on third grade mathematics students in the Jonesboro Public schools (Jonesboro, Arkansas). Each elementary building operates a MUPET Lab equipped with at least six Commodore Model 4016/4032 microcomputers, one Commodore Model 4040 dual disc drive, and one Commodore…

Focusing on the cognitive consequences of the present-day media environment and on the possible implications for cognitive assessment of these consequences, the information environment is discussed concerning the nature of its symbol system and electronic media. Also discussed are the information processing demands of television, the media and…

Assessment of Baseline Curriculum (ABC Tests) is a locally developed objectives-referenced assessment system that matches the Dallas Independent School System's Baseline Curriculum. Designed for instructional use and not for accountability, a major purpose of the ABC Test is to measure student attainment of objectives in the Mathematics and…

Eighty-three Test of English as a Foreign Language™ (TOEFL®) CBT writing prompts that were administered between July 1998 and August 2000 were examined in order to identify differences in scores that could be attributed to the response mode chosen by examinees (handwritten or word processed). Differences were examined statistically using…

Curry's model of learning style framework with Claxton and Murrell's adaptations was used to study the profile of non-majors in a college biology course. The purpose of the study was to provide empirically derived data in both a qualitative and quantitative format of the non-major to improve the course. Over 600 students were administered the…