The NAEP Validity Studies (NVS) Panel provides advice and recommendations to help insure the "validity" of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores. The primary objectives of NAEP tests are to accurately monitor the progress of defined groups of students over time and to measure valid differences in scores…

The sometimes poor performance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators on a state-mandated proficiency test is a major concern of CTE educators. This study examined whether (a) there are performance differences on state-mandated 11th-grade math and reading tests between CTE and non-CTE students with similar proficiency scores in the…

When a child takes a standardized test measuring ability or achievement, the results of that test may well determine the kind of education he is going to get. When school personnel select certain tests, administer them, and assign students to groups according to their scores on these tests, are they doing it in such a way that the end results are…

The literature on school absences has focused predominantly on the reasons for student truancy, or it has assessed only aggregate student absences in their effect on achievement. However, this study brings forth a new issue: the relationship between types of absences--excused versus unexcused--and school performance. With a quantitative model of…

In order to evaluate the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) vocabulary item format and to determine the effectiveness of alternative vocabulary test items, this study investigated the functioning of eight different multiple-choice formats that differed with regard to: (1) length and inference-generating quality of the stem; (2) the…

The 1993-94 school year was a transition year for the Nevada Proficiency Examination program in that it marked the year in which proficiency examinations were first mandated for grades 4, 8, and 11. Because the change from assessment at grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 would leave one class untested between grades 6 and 11, a requirement was passed for…

High school seniors in Ohio who have passed all parts of the ninth-grade proficiency tests are required to take the twelfth-grade proficiency tests. These tests, in writing, reading, mathematics, citizenship, and science, are designed to measure twelfth-grade performance and to evaluate the learning that goes on between the minimum competencies of…

In this digest a rationale is given for using open-ended questions in the assessment of student achievement, the use of open-ended questions in reading is discussed, and some implications for the classroom are outlined. Research has helped shift the focus from learning as content knowledge per se to learning as the ability to use and interpret…

This guide is intended as a basis for an inservice presentation by education service center and school district workshop presenters, to help a school district ensure that its English language arts and reading programs address the new Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. Suggested reading and writing activities are included throughout…

A study was designed to provide recommendations regarding the use of the achievement levels set in 1992 for reporting National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading results in 1994 and in future NAEP reading assessments. Two procedures were used: the Item Difficulty Categorization (IDC) procedure involved an evaluation of the…

This annotated bibliography summarizes approximately 600 reports of reading research identified between July 1, 1990, and June 30, 1991. The research studies described in the book are categorized into six areas: (1) summaries of reading research; (2) teacher preparation and practice; (3) sociology of reading; (4) physiology and psychology of…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Writing to Read Program as implemented in the East Gibson School Corporation by comparing scores on locally designed, teacher constructed reading and writing tests of students in the program with scores of those students exposed to traditional instruction. Subjects, 71 kindergarten students and 65 first…

Whether the shaping of test items can itself result in qualitative differences in examinees' comprehension of reading passages was studied using the Pearson-Johnson item classification system. The specific practice studied incorporated, within an item stem line, references that point the examinee to a specific location within a reading passage.…

This compendium presents the extensive range of data (including nearly 300 tables and 11 figures of data) collected in the National Assessment of Educational Progress' (NAEP's) 1992 Reading Assessment. Chapters 1 and 2 of the compendium present the data in the context of the National Assessment Governing Board achievement levels, showing what…

This study addressed the high retention percentage of college bound English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students exiting and ESL program who were retained in college developmental reading classes because of poor entrance test reading scores on the Multi-Assessment Placement Services (MAPS) exam. A computer reading program, implemented to improve…