In winter 1982-83, a survey of California's community colleges was conducted to determine which assessment activities were considered most effective and to identify areas needing improvement. Responses were received from 99 of the 106 colleges in the system. Study findings included the following: (1) assessment procedures, counseling procedures,…

A large urban district [the Houston Independent School District], serving 17,000 handicapped students, initiated a special education achievement testing program to provide measures of student growth and group progress. A standardized test was selected that was both norm- and criterion-referenced and that matched the special education curriculum.…

The viability of the Partial Credit Model (PCM) of G. N. Masters (1982) for scaling and banking individual essay prompts from a statewide writing assessment program was investigated. Preliminary analyses indicated the feasibility of using the PCM, the general polychotomous form of the Rasch model, with essay data from the Maryland Writing Test…

Projecting the prospects and possibilities for community colleges accurately is not an easy exercise due to the vulnerability of both internal and external conditions to unanticipated forces. One aspect of the community college that is particularly affected by external forces is enrollment. Enrollments are influenced by legislation, the decline in…

The validity of various procedures for rank ordering school districts throughout a state on the basis of statewide test results was studied. Data were drawn from the 1987 administration of the Kentucky Essential Skills Test (KEST), which is given each spring to all children enrolled in public school grades kindergarten through 12 in 178 school…

This study involved the assessment of classroom teachers' standardized and mastery program testing needs and proficiencies by a random sample of Ohio principals and supervisors (N=586). A total of 229 supervisors, 313 building principals, and 44 individuals in related supervisory roles was used. The findings from the investigation support the…

This description of the student outcomes assessment programs at community and junior colleges in Missouri provides an overview of the programs, a summary of the position of the Missouri Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) on assessment, and brief reports on the assessment programs of MACJC members. After introductory comments…

Statistical equating of scores from direct writing assessments is performed in Maryland to hold the difficulty of passing the Maryland Writing Test (MWT) equivalent from year to year and to allow a demonstration of growth in student writing achievement over the years. Passage of the test is a high school graduation requirement. Prior to…

The 1988 assessment of U.S. history objectives by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the first such assessment in U.S. history. This booklet presents a framework of objectives for U.S. history courses, including: (1) the chronology of people, events, documents, and interrelationships that form U.S. history; (2) the context…

The goal of this monograph is to explain the evaluation program designed by Schaumburg Community Consolidated District 54, Schaumberg, Illinois. It discusses the process used in the development of the model, the product, the implication for classroom teachers and the effects of using an evaluation to assess science process skills. The process…

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…

The preliminary work of the Scottish "School-Based Assessment of Communicative Foreign-Language Skills in Secondary Classes 3 and 4" to train teachers to undertake increased testing responsibilities under recent educational reforms is explained. The models of communicative competence and performance being developed for use with classroom…

Results are presented of the 1985-1986 administration of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. Each fall, the battery is given to grades three, five, and eight under a state mandate, and to grade eleven under a local mandate. Overall student performance improved slightly in 1985 from the already…

The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Form U, measuring achievement in reading, spelling, language, mathematics, reference skills, science, and social studies, were administered to fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, ninth-, and eleventh-graders from all 92 South Carolina school districts, in Spring, 1986. Results were compared to national norms and to…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) Exit Level Writing Test is based on eight behavioral objectives that fall under five skill areas. Satisfactory performance on this test is required for high school graduation in Texas. This document, intended for teachers and test developers, presents general testing instructions and…