Focuses on mental tests, test developers, and the social and historical context in which mental tests were developed in the United States and England. Suggests that the tests were produced in an intellectual and social climate heavily influenced by eugenicist theory and that more attention should be paid to research which casts doubts on the…

A short verbal aptitude test was administered under varying time limits with answer sheets specially designed to allow items that had been skipped to be identified. It appeared advantageous for the more able (based on grade point averages) but disadvantageous for the less able to skip items. (Author/RL)

The reliability and validity of a priori estimates of item characteristics are assessed. Results suggest that judges can make a modest contribution to estimation prior to actual administration. (Author/GK)

This heat transfer problem requires students to analyze the feasibility of moving icebergs from the Antarctic to Saudi Arabia to provide fresh water. (BB)

This problem requires the student to calculate the volume of air breathed by a bicyclist every hour in Denver, Colorado, and New York City. (BB)

Explores variables influencing the cognitive emphasis of teachers' examinations. Examination questions from Nigerian secondary school science teachers were analyzed according to Bloom's Taxonomy. The influence of the following variables on levels of questions was investigated: teachers' educational backgrounds, subjects taught, grade level taught,…

This paper discusses how certain recent technical advances might be extended to examine proficiency tests which are conceptualized as representing a variety of skills with one or more items per skill. In contrast to previous analyses, errors in the item level are included. (Author/BW)

Single administration (beta-binomial) estimates for the raw agreement index p and the corrected-for-chance kappa index in mastery testing are compared with those based on two test administrations in terms of estimation bias and sampling variability. Bias is about 2.5 percent for p and 10 percent for kappa. (Author/RL)

Five indices are discussed that should logically discriminate between situations in which: (1) the linear equating method (LEM) adequately adjusts for difference between score distributions of two approximately parallel test forms; or (2) a method more complex than the linear equating method is needed. (RL)

In this paper, a proposal is made by which a content validity coefficient can be calculated. An example of the use of the coefficient is given, demonstrating that different question combinations in a CSE biology examination in which a choice of questions was given gave different levels of content validity. (Author)

The paper documents experiments designed to compare essay and multiple-choice tests as means of testing science learning. Results indicate it is easier to score high on multiple-choice tests; some students substitute quantity on essay tests; and essay tests reveal weaknesses hidden by multiple-choice tests. (RE)

The computational difficulty of the word problem sections of eight standardized achievement tests was analyzed with respect to the variety of computational procedures and the number of digits per whole number computation. Analysis reveals considerable variation among the current tests in terms of computational procedure and difficulty. (Author/MK)

Investigates two evaluative hypotheses related to test item sequence and the performance of the students who take the tests. (SA)

A discussion of differential item functioning (DIF) in the context of attitude assessment is followed by examples involving the detection of DIF on an attitudes-toward-science scale completed by 1,550 elementary school students and the finding of no DIF in a workshop evaluation completed by 1,682 adults. (SLD)

Reviews and illustrates some of the current technological developments in computer-based testing, focusing on novel item formats and automated scoring methodologies. The review shows a number of innovations being researched and implemented. (SLD)