Guidelines, practical suggestions, and examples are offered to assist teachers in planning and developing tests to accurately measure student achievement. The six chapters cover: (1) planning tests; (2) developing tests; (3) assembling and administering tests; (4) interpreting test results; (5) assessing test items; and (6) improving test validity…

This paper summarizes an investigation of applications and issues in free response (FR) testing during 1989. It draws on ideas from the results of the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988 (NELS:88) field test, a seminar series at the Educational Testing Service (ETS), working papers prepared for several FR testing applications, and…

The history of test coaching has shown that positive benefits can be produced from short-term orientation, practice, and drill. Coaching on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) has been especially scrutinized for efficacy and has shown modest program effects, despite the limited scope and duration of such programs. The present investigation expands…

The traditional multiple-choice reading comprehension test of English as a second language, used in the Dutch school-leaving examinations, has been criticized for its apparent lack of construct validity. The Dutch National Institute for Educational Measurement has conducted a number of studies to determine whether there is a different skill…

Alternatives for testing the achievement of college students in Maryland are reviewed by committee members appointed by the State Board for Higher Education and Maryland's public institutions of higher education. The achievement testing alternatives would be a means of assessing institutional effectiveness; all entail the use of tests currently in…

The importance of legislative initiatives to improve postsecondary education is discussed, along with mechanisms that legislatures have used to induce change in higher education, and guidelines for action. Structural obstacles to improvements that have confronted most public colleges include lack of clear priorities, fragmented responsibilities,…

An introductory course in computer automated tests and measurement systems based on the International Test Instrument-Computer Interface Standard, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)-488, is presented in this study guide. This course is designed to: (1) introduce the electronics engineering technician to the functional…

This paper evaluates current research literature on effective schools. While acknowledging that the research provides systematic direction for school improvement, the author also points out some shortcomings of existing studies, including (1) inadequate description of curriculum content and of circumstances believed to result in test success; (2)…

The intent of this chapter is to emphasize the student evaluation aspect over other legal principles. Several cases illustrate that courts will interfere with school boards' authority to determine placement of pupils only when a violation of constitutional or statutory rights of a student occurs. In the matter of sanctions against students that…

A study was carried out at Pennsylvania State University to examine the effects of both textual and computer animated orienting activities--i.e., mediators through which new information is presented to the learner--and practice on the application and problem solving skills of elementary school students. It was hypothesized that students provided…

The essays in this collection attempt to provide a conceptual framework for the process of occupational curriculum development. The collection includes: (1) "Federal Government Involvement in Technical Curriculum Development," by John G. Nealon; (2) "The Challenge of Curriculum Development: From Idea to Reality," by Judith F. Raulf and Marilyn C.…

This paper argues that the standard "When it is expected that a test will be used to make norm-referenced assessments of groups rather than individuals, normative data based on appropriate group statistics should be provided," which was considered secondary in the 1985 "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" and…

This paper (1) identifies strategies for assessing student instructional needs so that educational prescriptions can be developed to promote learning; and (2) relates the identification of student needs to the development of learning prescriptions. The population discussed includes high school and college students who because of social, economic,…

To examine the validity of short forms of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the WISC-R was first administered to 106 hospitalized psychiatric patients, aged 8-16. No subjects had a primary diagnosis of mental retardation or learning disability, and one-third were receiving psychotropic medication. WISC-R IQ scores…

Two studies were conducted to compare the advance organizer and concept elaboration models of instruction with a task analysis approach. It was hypothesized that the concept elaboration group would achieve significantly higher than either the advance organizer group or the task analysis group on concept learning and principle learning. A pilot…