During the 1985-86 school year, an evaluation plan utilizing standardized norm-referenced test information was initiated within the Wichita Public School System in Kansas. The plan had four identifiable factors: (1) a growth measurement concept; (2) a simplified computation process; (3) a means of integration of growth measurement within user…

The 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) focuses on a sample of students enrolled in the eighth grade during the spring of 1988. Building on its predecessors (the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and High School and Beyond), the study is designed to provide trend data about the critical transitions…

This pilot test for ninth grade mathematics is written in both French and English. The test consists of 75 multiple-choice items. Students are given 90 minutes to complete the examination and the use of a calculator is highly recommended. The test content covers a wide range of mathematical topics including: decimals; exponents; arithmetic word…

This achievement test for ninth grade mathematics is written in both French and English. The test consists of 75 multiple-choice items. Students are given 90 minutes to complete the examination, with the use of calculators permitted. The test content covers a wide range of mathematical content including: positive and negative exponents; word…

The Provincial Assessment of Mathematics was conducted at grades 3, 6, 9 and 12. There are three major components to the assessment: (1) a written test of the curriculum objectives carried out in May, 1987 for grades 3, 6, and 9, and in June, 1987 for grade 12 (Mathematics 300 and Mathematics 301); (2) a survey of teachers at these grade levels;…

An urban school district affected by testing in the effective schools context is described in order to provide examples of the effects of testing on teaching and the curriculum. The report describes the method of operationalizing the effective schools research using test information. An important catalyst to improving the instructional program was…

The Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS) was developed in order to examine the extent to which Title I (now Chapter 1) is remediating the disadvantages in basic skills of educationally deprived children. TIERS Model A contrasts the achievement of Chapter 1 students to publishers' norms for hypothetically comparable groups of students.…

The effects of item position on item statistics were studied in a large set of data from tests of word knowledge (WK) and arithmetic reasoning (AR). Position effects on item response theory (IRT) parameter estimates and classical item statistics were also investigated. Data were collected as part of a project to refine the Army's Computerized…

This study was designed to gather data on the meaning of imprecise terms from items written by physicians for their students and by test committees for national licensure and certification examinations. A total of 32 members of test committees who write examination items for various medical specialty examinations participated in the study. Each…

Data collected on the Eastern Kentucky University College of Education by the Office of Educational Research and Evaluation for the 1980-81 academic year are presented. Information is included on: (1) basic skills and personality tests; (2) administration of the National Teachers Examination; (3) competency examinations; (4) establishing validity…

This paper reviews the process employed in Pennsylvania to develop, refine, select, and implement educational indicators at the state level as part of a state testing program. The indicators are used to provide meaningful comparative information for analysis and planning, to encourage school employees to make productive curricular or…

The use of item banks and item response theory has resulted in new ways to misinterpret and misuse tests through customized, yet standardized, achievement test batteries. The new test batteries create the possibility of serious misunderstandings based on the idea that any subset of items from the pool with a proper range of difficulties will…

The New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) is administered in a new form each year to all entering freshmen in New Jersey public colleges and 12 participating independent colleges. The NJCBSPT was taken by 44,344 students from March through December 1985. Test results revealed the following: (1) 26% were proficient in verbal…

Systematic activities of the guidance program at the Halstead, Kansas high school--enrollment 215--are used to illustrate what a small rural school can do to help students register and prepare for the ACT (American College Testing Program) and use test results to plan their educational futures. Halstead students' ACT scores consistently exceed…

The study reported here was intended to "round out" the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board's continuing study of special test preparation for the GRE General Test by providing information that was previously unavailable on the effects of one kind of special test preparation--self-test-familiarization for the verbal and quantitative…