In response to low college-going rates and low persistence rates of college students, Clark Technical College (CTC) initiated the High School Liaison Project to improve articulation between the college and local schools. The project served as an umbrella for several related activities, including a program for assessing the potential college skills…

The materials described here represent the conversion of a highly popular student workbook "Sets, Probability and Statistics: The Mathematics of Life Insurance" into a computer program. The program is designed to familiarize students with the concepts of sets, probability, and statistics, and to provide practice using real life examples. It also…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills in reading, language, and mathematics was administered to 3,417 second through twelfth grade students plus 201 resource room special education students for a total of 3,618 students, 97% of the student population in the Crete-Monee (Illinois) School District, in April, 1986. The test results were compared:…

A study was undertaken to describe assessment activities of four school districts in Maryland (Washington, Cecil, Montgomery, and Charles Counties) designed to parallel a state-mandated competency-testing program required for high school graduation and to report uses of scores and positive and negative impacts from assessment activities. The…

The proliferation of minimum competency testing in recent years has not resulted in a critical analysis of the construct validity of such tests. The present study examined the dimensionality and construct validity of an urban life skills competency test (the 1987 eighth-grade Chicago Minimum Proficiency Skills Test (MPST) via linear analysis. The…

This study investigated the comparative value of nationally-normed tests versus high school mathematics grade point averages in predicting the mathematics success of college students. The study covers the period 1964-1981. The sample for the study was selected from 2 years of student records for all students completing any type of mathematics…

This document consists of volumes 1-9 of the Mathematics Association of America's (MAA) Placement Test Program Newsletter. The MAA is the professional association primarily concerned with undergraduate education in mathematics. It has responded to the increasingly difficult problem of placing freshmen students in mathematics courses by developing…

This study was designed to determine the level of support among Saddleback College (California) students and faculty for maintaining the current exclusivity of the Mathematics Department in certifying student competence in mathematics as required for the associate degree. The study also identified current practices used by California community…

In response to the increasing importance of student performance in required classes, research was conducted to compare two prediction procedures, linear modeling using multiple regression and nonlinear modeling using AID3. Performance in the first college math course (College Mathematics, Calculus, or Business Calculus Matrices) was the dependent…

This study investigated the effects of verbal factors on item performance in mathematics tests. Experimental tryout units were constructed that varied the verbal load of each of 21 mathematics test items. Each tryout unit was randomly assembled to include A, B and C versions of items so that no examinee took a unit of only one item format. Each…

This booklet provides a comprehensive directory of mathematics tests that are available in the United States and Canada to help educators and researchers meet their evaluation needs. The tests are listed in the order of the educational level for which they were designed and then by subject matter within the level. Sections included are: (1)…

A study was made to determine characteristics of teacher-composed classroom tests, with emphasis placed on describing the levels of knowledge addressed by the test items. In this preliminary investigation, 19 mathematics and 16 science teachers working in 4 high schools in a mixed suburban/rural school district were asked to: (1) complete a brief…

This Technical Report provides descriptions and summary data that assist measurement specialists in assessing the procedures used in developing New Jersey's High School Proficiency Test (HSPT), the technical qualities of the tests, and the statewide results obtained from its use. The data summarized in this report were collected during the various…

Information is presented about the grade 12 diploma examinations for Mathematics 30, Biology 30, Chemistry 30, and Physics 30 that were administered in 1986. Topics explained include: (1) general format of the examinations (stating the content, emphasis, and time allotments); (2) examination schedules (listing the calendar dates and times for the…

The article provides background rationale for the conception and development of an Assessment Alternatives Kit for mathematics. It was designed to support teachers of K-10 to explore a range of possibilities in their own classrooms. (PK)