The psychological report is a particular genre of writing, incorporating elements of content and style shared by other literary genres, and appearing in many different forms. These forms range from terse, profile driven description of strengths and weaknesses, characteristic of computer generated psychological reports, to more descriptive,…

The guide is intended for teachers who must construct language tests and for other professionals who may need to construct, evaluate, or use the results of language tests. Most examples are drawn from the field of English-as-a-Second-Language instruction in the United Kingdom, but the principles and practices described may be applied to the…

This paper reports on an independent review of two examinations designed to assess teacher competencies: the Praxis Series and the Content Mastery Examinations for Educators (CMEE). The review was ordered by the Montana Department of Public Education in order to decide which battery of tests would replace the National Teacher Examination (NTE).…

Considerable evidence suggests that policy-makers, educators, the media, and the public do not understand national and state test results. The problems appear to be two-fold: the scales on which scores are reported seem confusing, and the report forms themselves are often too complex for the intended audiences. This paper addresses two topics. The…

This report examines the assessment of competence in nursing and midwifery education in Britain within a context of changes in health needs, values about health care and service provision, policy/ideology, and education. Chapter 1 explores alternative approaches to conceptualizing the issues involved in the study of assessment, competence, and…

Measures of the robustness of disease class-specific diagnostic concepts could play a central role in training programs designed to assure the development of diagnostic competence. In the pilot study, the authors used disease/sign-symptom conditional probability estimates, Monte Carlo procedures, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create…

This document provides information on average student performance at the state level on end-of-grade (grades 3 through 8 in reading and mathematics and grades 4 through 8 in social studies) multiple-choice tests and all end-of-course (high school courses) tests administered in 1994-95 as part of the North Carolina Testing Program. State-level…

Studies of the Angoff method of standard setting suggest that judges agree in their estimates of the relative difficulties of test questions for minimally competent examinees and that each judge's estimates correlate well with the observed item difficulties for examinees whose total test scores are near the judge's personal standard (G. E.…

This study attempts to estimate Structure of Learning Outcome (SOLO) levels in mathematics using the Partial Credit and Rating Scale models. A 30-item test comprising 10 testlets of 3 items each was designed and administered to 674 lower secondary school students. The items were arranged in a hierarchical manner, each testing SOLO levels in this…

In 1991 the collaborative efforts of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory resulted in the current form of the State Student Assessment Program (SSAP) database. This report marks the third year of that partnership, which builds on earlier data collection efforts to present information…

This study was undertaken to develop guidelines for making interpretive inferences from scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a norm-referenced test of English-language listening comprehension (LC) and reading (R) skills, about level of ability to use English in face-to-face conversation, indexed by performance in…

This book is designed to develop a general conceptualization of equality of educational opportunity and to use it to characterize the problems confronting public education in the United States. It is argued that educational opportunities and educational results cannot be disentangled. After an overview in chapter 1, chapter 2, "A Radical…

Scaffolding refers to the instructional support that instructors or more skillful peers offer learners to bridge the gap between their current skill levels and the desired level. An aspect of scaffolding that is often ignored is the fading of support as the learner masters the skill. It has been suggested that there is a risk of over-relying on…

Instruments used in a study by M. B. Kinzie and M. A. Delacourt (1991), the Attitude towards Computer Technologies (ACT) and the Self-efficacy for Computer Technologies (SCT), assess preservice teachers' perceived usefulness of and comfort level with specific computer technologies. This study uses a population confirmed to be similar to that used…

One component of the Maryland School Performance Program (MSPAP) is the state's performance-based assessments, criterion-referenced tests that require students to apply what they know and can do to solve problems and display other higher-order thinking skills. This document helps parents, teachers, students, and other citizens understand the tasks…