The East Tennessee State University College of Education has begun removing objective testing from regularly scheduled class time and has begun using Macintosh computers for content tutoring and the evaluation of students at their convenience. The new testing program requires students to meet criteria for the number of correct responses within…

The Minimum Performance Test (MPT), Metropolitan Achievement Test, Sixth Edition (MAT6), and the new standards required by the 1983 Quality Education Act and their impact on teachers in Arkansas were assessed. A sample of 103 elementary school teachers from 39 school districts indicated that the tests and standards generally met with favorable…

The purposes of the present investigation are to evaluate a new, adaptive procedure for assessing multiple dimensions of self-concept for children younger than 8 years and to examine related theoretical issues. The multidimensional, hierarchical structure of self-concept is well established for older children, but there is a paucity of research…

A two-year study designed to evaluate an elementary language arts program in the Grande Prairie School District (Edmonton, Alberta) through an assessment of student achievement was conducted from 1983 to 1985. A major focus of the study was the area of listening, and the listening tests and teacher's manuals presented in this document are intended…

In 1980-82, the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) was conducted in 20 countries, including Japan. This study was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). This paper constitutes a summary of the research relating to the level of mathematics achievement of Japanese students. The…

This analysis of educational practices in the United States takes the position that a number of practices, including the way teachers are trained, textbooks selected, and college and university faculty rewarded, have become institutionalized and endure in spite of the reform efforts of the past decade. These practices, once established on a large…

Data banks with items calibrated under an item response model can be used for the construction of tests. Mathematical programming models like the Maximin Model are formulated for computerized item selection from a bank. In this paper, mathematical programming models based on the Maximin Model are proposed for the construction of weakly parallel…

Characteristics that distinguish criterion-referenced tests from their norm-referenced counterparts are discussed, including: the purposes that they are designed to serve; the characteristics of the types of items that they contain; and the manner in which they are developed. More specifically, the distinguishing characteristics include: reference…

A multilevel approach was used to examine determinants of growth in grade 8 mathematics achievement in Thailand. Data for 99 mathematics teachers and their 4,030 eighth graders (the 14-year-old cohort) were taken from the Second International Mathematics Study (1981-82) of the International Association for the Assessment of Educational…

This discussion focuses on reading problems arising when bilingual children must learn two different scripts, and how the nature of the relationship between the two scripts may influence the child's ability to transfer and develop reading skills. First, models of normal and abnormal reading in English are described. The significance of these…

Fiscal constraints have limited education budgets in developing countries. Increases necessary to expand access to highly subsidized and publicly provided education have not been forthcoming. Another concern is that education is being inadequately and inefficiently provided by the public sector. This study is an inquiry into the nature of the…

The College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) and the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) examinations were evaluated as measures of the effectiveness of the general education program of the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). The criteria used to evaluate these examinations focused on their construct validity. The data were…

This research summary identifies major factors affecting the validity of language assessments in bilingual students. The four factors include: (1) determining which language is dominant and in which language the child should be tested; (2) recognizing that bilingual children may use language in a way that is qualitatively different from that of…

Work is reported towards the completion of a prototype duplex-design assessment instrument for grade-12 science. The student course-background questionnaire and the pretest section of the two-stage instrument that was developed were administered to all 134 12th-grade students at St. Clairsville High School (Ohio). Based on the information obtained…

Three tables are provided to aid in the clinical interpretation of factor scores for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R; 1981). The factor structure of the WAIS-R has proven to be robust across samples, tests, time, statistical analyses, measurement scales, and distortions of the distribution. Information necessary to make…