This study compared student performance on language-usage test items presented in two different formats: as discrete sentences and as items embedded in passages. American College Testing (ACT) Program's Assessment experimental units were constructed that presented 40 items in the two different formats. Results suggest item presentation may not…

Pronunciation is regarded as a valuable subskill in foreign language teaching and testing. Its quality is commonly assessed in a global way by having examinees read aloud. An atomistic test is a more systematic and explicit approach. Such a test would consist of about 40 items, use recorded performances, and draw on an inventory of pronunciation…

This paper describes the development, validation, and use of a research instrument, the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), designed to assess the environment of small higher education classrooms. The instrument evaluates students' or instructors' perceptions of the following seven psychosocial dimensions of actual or…

The validity and reliability of the Institutional Performance Survey (IPS) as an institutional self-study instrument were assessed, with a focus on four types of validity (content, face, construct, and concurrent) and three types of reliability (test-retest, internal consistency, and rater reliability). It was found that IPS appears to reasonably…

The problem of measuring growth across the target grade and, typically, the two adjacent grades, concerns most developers of standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests, particularly at the item selection stage. Opinion is divided on whether to retain or drop items that do not get easier from grade to grade. The controversy has focused on…

This study compares the contribution to measurement accuracy of the verbal score of each of four verbal item types included in the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test. Comparisons are based on item response theory, a methodology that allows the researcher to look at the accuracy of individual points on the score scale. This methodology…

A sample of slightly over 1,500 students drawn from even-numbered grades in public schools of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) were given the 1973 edition of the Stanford Achievement Test (grades 2, 4, 6, and 8) and the Test of Academic Skills (grades 10 and 12) in an attempt to assess student academic achievement in the basic skill areas of…

The effectiveness of an Education Consolidation Improvement Act Chapter 1 program was studied in a large urban school district. A common problem in evaluating remedial programs is that pretest/posttest achievement gains often indicate the effects of the entire curriculum, rather than those specific to the remedial class. In this district, over…

The scientific concept of intelligence has been heavily influenced by the technology of measurement. The variables which can be measured have been made the operational definition of intelligence. This approach differs from a deductive approach, in which a theory of cognition in general is used to derive the sorts of measurements that must be taken…

The process used by the Texas Education Agency to update public school teacher certification tests in a statewide program in Texas is described. The testing program implemented is called the Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas. After a policy review, advisory committees for 63 test areas prepared content frameworks, created…

This study investigated the measurement integrity of the "Heart Smart" cognitive tests. Designed for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, the tests measure health-related knowledge involving physiology, nutrition, exercise, and behavioral skills. The report presents tables of specifications, test floors and ranges, a demographic profile of…

In response to the increasing importance of student performance in required classes, research was conducted to compare two prediction procedures, linear modeling using multiple regression and nonlinear modeling using AID3. Performance in the first college math course (College Mathematics, Calculus, or Business Calculus Matrices) was the dependent…

The effects of the use of computer-enhanced instruction with remedial students were assessed, using 4,293 ninth through twelfth graders--3,308 Black, 957 White, and 28 Other--involved in the Governor's Remediation Initiative (GRI) in Georgia. Data sources included the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), a data collection form developed for…

The 1985 Buros-Nebraska Symposium was devoted to the broad issue of the influence of cognitive psychology on testing and measurement. The (1) "Introduction: The Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Testing" (Royce R. Ronning et. al.) lists four major issues addressed by the symposium--cognitive psychology as a basis for questioning some…

Two separate sets of minimum standards designed to guide the evaluation of bilingual projects are proposed. The first set relates to the process in which the evaluation activities are conducted. They include: validity of assessment procedures, validity and reliability of evaluation instruments, representativeness of findings, use of procedures for…