Studies carried out over a 12-year period addressed fundamental questions on the use of Rasch-based item banks. Large field tests administered in grades 3-8 of reading, mathematics, and science items, as well as standardized test results were used to explore the possible effects of many factors on item calibrations. In general, the results…

Measurement disturbances, such as guessing, startup, and plodding, often result in an examinee's ability being either over- or under-estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation employed in latent trait psychometric models. Several authors have suggested methods to lessen the impact of unexpected responses on the ability estimation process. This…

Sixty subjects, 30 males and 30 females, grades 7-9, were given an estimation and comparison mathematics test consisting of high and low difficulty level problems. Performances as measured by total error scores were compared as functions of sex and anxiety separately for high and low difficulty problems. There was a significant main effect of…

Designed to be a tool for curriculum and instructional development consistent with assessment of the state objectives in reading, this teaching and testing guide provides a summary of the skills that should be considered instructionally and how each objective is tested. Information is included on state objectives for reading teachers for grades 1,…

To provide information for decision making related to competency testing in reading, the Cleveland School District developed a working paper for staff discussion. This paper presents information about the varied aspects of a competency testing program which will use locally developed test questions and be implemented in response to a Board of…

The Florida Teacher Certification Examination was developed as a comprehensive written examination for use in initial teacher certification in the state. Applicants must demonstrate mastery of 23 generic minimum competencies in teaching adopted in Florida statutes and State Board of Education rules. Subtests in General Education cover writing,…

Development of new scales from test items usually requires several hundred cases in each of the defined groups. Application of multivariate techniques to existing test scales also encounters such problems as multicolinearity, combining ipsative with normative measures and ordinal with equal interval scales, differential prediction, and…

The purpose of this booklet is to explain examination registration procedures and to introduce the Psychometric Entrance Examination so that students will know what to expect, what types of questions they will be asked, and how they will be expected to answer. The aim of the examination is to evaluate a variety of cognitive abilities: verbal,…

A statewide sample testing of writing skills in the fourth, seventh, and tenth grades was conducted by the Michigan Educational Assessment Program in the fall of 1982. This report, which shares the writing assessment information (historical, descriptive, and interpretive) for educational decision-making, was prepared in the hope of increasing…

This curriculum guide was designed by the Coudersport, Pennsylvania, school system to be used in teaching 0-4 level mathematics skills to adult basic education students. The guide is intended to provide consumer-oriented, problem-solving material that correlates with those skills found in the Noonan-Spradley Diagnostic Program of Computational…

Six methods of equating Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) test scores for samples consisting of the usual groups of examinees and groups controlled for native language representation were evaluated in terms of scale stability. The equating methods included three item response theory (IRT) variants (fixed b's scaling, a one-parameter…

The New York Regents Competency Testing Program has been designed to assure that all students develop adequate skills in reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics before graduation from high school. In this booklet, information is provided on two elements of the Regents Competency Testing Program: diploma standards and screening tests.…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains 10 short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, including the following: an excerpt from "Where Did You Go?""Out." (Robert Paul…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains 10 short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, including the following: "At the Age at Which Mozart Was Dead Already" (Ellen Goodman);…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test contains 80 multiple choice test items related to the ten readings in the readings booklet. The questions examine the student's skills in (1) understanding meanings, (2) understanding and interpreting the relationships between form and…