Four researchers at the Educational Testing Service describe what they consider some of the most vexing research problems they face. While these problems are not completely statistical, they all have major statistical components. Following the introduction (section 1), in section 2, "Problems with the Simultaneous Estimation of Many True…

This document describes the holdings of the Test Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory as of April 1994 in the area of assessment alternatives in social studies. The bibliography lists 45 entries about such subjects as portfolio assessment, diploma examinations, performance criteria, performance assessment models, integrating…

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) are used to examine the relationship between minimum competency testing and dropout rates. Proponents of such testing have argued that minimum competency tests provide incentives for schools and students, but opponents have argued that such tests lead to a low-level basic skills…

Few topics in education have generated as much interest as portfolios. To assist the many educators who are experimenting with this concept, the Test Center at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory has prepared this annotated bibliography of articles on portfolios in educational assessment. The articles (more than 240) are listed in…

In the context of the development of a possible national mathematics assessment, a study was conducted to determine whether a test item characterization scheme could be created based on a state policy document that serves as the driving force behind large-scale performance assessment. Further considerations were whether such an item…

Assessment of student progress is a challenge for educators who use developmentally appropriate practices such as multiage grouping. Interest in alternative types of assessment has become widespread. These performance-based, or authentic, assessments are explored in this document, which presents assessment strategies that work effectively with…

Twelve teachers and two principals from the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union School District (Vermont) met to consider what a small rural school district can do to assess its own programs and to discuss how to go about program assessment with the goal of helping schools become effective learning organizations. The district serves about 1,800…

This paper synthesizes information derived from five sources regarding issues in testing as they related to the American 2000; an education strategy and the national education goals. The focus is on proposed national tests. The issue of national testing extends far beyond testing itself because it touches on the structure of the U.S. educational…

In this study, learners worked with a simulation of harmonic oscillation. Two supportive measures were introduced: model progression and assignments. In model progression, the model underlying the simulation is not offered in its full complexity from the start, but variables are gradually introduced. Assignments are small exercises that help the…

This keynote address argues that policy makers should consider a project approach to implementation of research results regarding foreign language learning; they should pay attention to what is being revealed by a growing number of evaluation and impact studies concerning effective innovation and project effects. Second, language teaching research…

The "DATAWave" is a biweekly publication of the Assessment Resource Office (ARO) at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). Its purpose is to inform the campus community and broader constituencies on assessment issues and practices at ENMU. The university's 10-year history of outcomes assessment is reflected in the topics of the 6 editions…

Although the use of test results to demonstrate educational shortcomings is important, tests and assessments are also expected to be an instrument of reform. In fact, they are often expected to provide the primary means of creating educational reform. The minimum competency testing movement and the expansion of the use of test results for…

The Computer-Assisted Job Skill Evaluation (CAJSE) project was conducted to develop an evaluation software instrument that could be used in career and technical education programs throughout Texas to provide immediate performance evaluations in vocational-technical and career education. Ten instructors selected from vocational-technical education…

This collection of materials provides a rationale for including all students with disabilities in statewide assessments and offers guidance for Vermont educators implementing the Vermont Assessment Program. Three reasons for inclusion are presented and supported with statistics, excerpts from the law, and research findings. The reasons for…

Tests can be categorized into two major groups: norm-referenced tests (NRTs) and criterion-referenced tests (CRTs). NRTs are designed to highlight achievement differences between and among students to produce a dependable rank order of students across a continuum of achievement from high achievers to low achievers. With NRTs, a representative…