Conclusions reached after three years of performance contracting experience and materials with which to judge the validity of the conclusions are presented in this overview of performance contracting. The conclusions are: (1) commercial firms are no better at teaching children than are public schools; (2) commercial firms expend as much or more…

The accuracy of estimating test means for groups of twelfth-grade students by the item-sampling technique was examined. The subjects were from 35 twelfth-grade schools participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Mathematical Abilities. Half of the students in each school were assigned to a treatment condition where they took a complete…

This article describes an experiment undertaken to analyze the learning habits of Latin students in Germany, discusses the implications therein for programed instruction, and relates the advantages of such instruction. In the experiment, students were found to confuse similar words which had been presented together in instruction (e.g.…

At the 1970 meeting of the American Educational Research Association a symposium, jointly sponsored by the National Council on Measurement in Education, was presented on the topic "Criterion-Referenced Measurement: Emerging Issues." The following papers were presented: "Instructional Technology and the Measurement of Learning Outcomes: Some…

To determine if student placement in community colleges' programs of study and courses could be improved if objective information relating to the reading requirements of each course were related to the student's measured reading ability, an investigation was carried out at Rockland Community College. The Nelson-Denny Reading Test was administered…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a study of the stimulus variable of "frame size" and a group of variables reflecting student ability and sex. Individual differences were studied by varying ability, as measured by school grades and a battery of seven "factor tests" of intelligence and…

Traditionally, tests in the language arts have focused on the mechanical skills of reading, writing, and spelling. The problems which have arisen because of tests which measure reading and composing ability without ever requiring the child to actually read or compose have been compounded by teachers' tendencies to turn children away from books by…

During 1970 and 1971, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted its first assessment of reading, measuring the achievement of specific reading objectives by individuals aged 9, 13, 17, and 26-35. In 1974, the Right to Read Effort directed that a Mini-Assessment of Functional Literacy (MAFL) be conducted to determine basic…

Presents a matrix showing the types, domains, uses, advantages, and disadvantages of teacher-made paper and pencil and performance evaluation instruments, and considers some of the factors involved in deciding which to use. (CMV)

A study investigating interactions between imagery instructions and aptitude variables is presented. A group of 7 fifth-grade classes was given imagery instructions in the reading of a short text, while another group read the text in a regular way. Three different outcomes covering different types of learning were registered. (Editor)

Describes the development of a standardized achievement test for high school horticulture students and analyzes resulting data from 37 high schools. Although the sample may not have been truly random, the test is felt to be sufficiently reliable and valid for use as a research and evaluation tool. (MF)

Tests that require high school students to demonstrate minimum skills for graduation are challenged, tough campaigns are being started to check student violence, profit-making schools are growing in popularity, and new efforts are made to halt the continuing decline in the study of foreign languages. (Editor/RK)

Presents research findings on several aspects of multiple-choice testing: (1) Effect of guessing; (2) Effect of changing the initial response; (3) Effect of item order alteration; (4) Optimum number of chores; (5) Position response set; and (6) Assessment of partial knowledge. (HM)

The decline in scholastic aptitude test ( SAT) scores does not signify that the quality of education is lower. To interpret this decline requires an understanding of the testing process, changing racial and sex mix of the test makers, changing lifestyle of youth, and the increase in the number of students taking the SAT. (Author/AM)

Thirty-nine normal pre-school and 48 older mentally handicapped children of similar vocabulary age were tested on a sentence comprehension test under three different presentation conditions. Results showed that presentation conditions did not affect normal children, but mentally handicapped children were adversely affected by the condition in…