The historical background of mastery learning is discussed and related to the use of the traditional normal curve and to the nature of curves which express more adequately the mastery learning concept. It is suggested that the mastery model calls for strategies that: inform students about course expectations; set standards of mastery in advance;…

Describes an analysis of test items used to measure the science process skills of 11-year-olds in Great Britain. Concludes that the level of cognitive demand was a reliable predictor of the difficulty of an item. (TW)

This document provides a guide for the development of the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Economics Assessment. The framework is designed to assess the outcomes of student education in and understanding of economics in grade 12 as part of NAEP. Economic literacy is defined as the ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate…

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS), a Standards-Based test, provides educators and the public with valuable information regarding the progress of Arizona's students toward mastering Arizona's reading, writing and mathematics Standards. This specific test, Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) is…

The purpose of this study was to use realistically simulated data to evaluate various CAT designs for use with the verbal reasoning measure of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). Factors such as item pool depth, content constraints, and item formats often cause repeated adaptive administrations of an item at ability levels that are not…

This study investigated the effects of three aspects of language testing (test task, familiarity with an interviewer, and test method) on both tester and tested. Data were drawn from several previous studies by the researcher. Concerning test task, data were analyzed for the type of topic students wanted most to talk about or preferred not to talk…

This test manual presents information on the Brockport Physical Fitness Test (BPFT), a criterion-referenced fitness test for children and adolescents with disabilities. The first chapter of the test manual includes an introduction and target populations are identified, defined, and classified. The second chapter presents information on the…

The purpose of this study is to provide information on actual time used by students with disabilities on the new SAT®. This study observed students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) as they took SAT items under strict time limits and recorded the amount of time taken for each item. The study is…

Recent findings on differential item functioning (DIF) for minority examinees (Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks) taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are presented, and the standardization approach to assessing DIF is described. Item characteristics related to DIF that generalize across ethnic groups are discussed. (SLD)

The validity of logistic test models and computer simulation methods for generating sampling distributions of item bias statistics was evaluated under the hypothesis of no item bias. Test data from 937 ninth-grade students were used to develop 7 steps for applying computer-simulated baseline statistics in test development. (SLD)

Describes responses of fifth to eighth grade students to different types of test items requiring estimation. Reports that performance differed by item format, types of numbers and operations in the items, and grade level of students. (Author/YP)

A study of the effectiveness of teaching science to 2 classes of 15 and 20 ninth-graders, respectively, illustrates 5 aspects of educational evaluation: age factors in teachability, test unidimensionality, comparison of 2 classes of students regarding mean ability, objective difficulty of test items, and objective ability of individual students.…

Examinees in a regular administration of the quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Examination responded to particular items in a machine-scannable multiple-choice format. Volunteers (n=364) used a computer to answer open-ended counterparts of these items. Scores for both formats demonstrated similar correlational patterns. (SLD)

Results from the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program for 5,392 elementary school students and from the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (multiple choice) for a national sample are used to explore local item independence (LID) of test items. Some strategies are suggested for measuring LID in performance assessments. (SLD)

There can be little doubt that there is wide variation in the rigor and quality of state standards and assessments. Moreover, it is clear that the vast majority of states have set their academic achievement bar far lower than federal standards, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB)…