Indices of appropriateness of a test for an individual are discussed, and two data sets are evaluated. With the first data set, three indices of test appropriateness are obtained for response patterns on achievement tests from an experimental study of the effects of test anxiety and time pressure with 173 3rd and 4th grade students. Relationships…

The focus of this paper is on improving the measurement of test anxiety. Background information is given about the role of motivation and the importance of testing. The present research is directed at developing a shorter, more reliable and valid measure of test anxiety, thus furthering the predictive, diagnostic, and test program uses of test…

The standardized IQ tests which are in use in the schools are scientifically and pedagogically without merit. The construct "intelligence" is a hypothetical notion whose valid expression has yet to be born. IQ tests and the construct of intelligence can be discarded at present, and teaching strategies would be unaffected. To successful teachers…

The module described in this document is part of a series of instructional modules on sex-role stereotyping in education. This document (including all but the cassette tape) is the module that examines how sex bias influences selection of research topics, sampling techniques, interpretation of data, and conclusions. Suggestions for designing…

The purpose of this study was to determine if two testing methods, multiple choice and cloze technique, differentially affected students' scores on reading comprehension tests. The tests were compared in their emphasis on cognition and production related abilities as defined by Guilford. Ninety-three Durham County sixth graders were given a…

Standardized achievement tests may not be an accurate diagnostic tool for measuring individual pupil achievement in reading. Criterion-referenced tests, designed to measure specific goal mastery, can provide valuable information that standardized forms cannot. In addition, criterion-referenced tests give teachers the diagnostic tools needed to…

Three new indicators of psychometric quality for objectives-based statewide assessments are proposed. These measures provide indication of the stability of reported data on item and objectives mastery, the validity of assessment items for members of various cultural groups, and the convergent validity of prescribed objectives mastery scores. The…

Biased tests systematically favor some groups over others as a result of factors not part of what the test is said to measure. Bias is basically a problem of differential validity. Validity can be discussed in terms of either the procedures for establishing it or test use. Both ways clarify bias in any test. For content and construct validity, the…

The annotated bibliography on nondiscriminatory testing contains approximately 75 abstracts and associated indexing information for documents published from 1962 to 1974 and selected from the computer files of the Council for Exceptional Children's Information Services and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). Citations are…

The problems of standardized tests with regard to Mexican American students, particularly "ethnic validity", are reviewed. Inadequate norm group representation, cultural bias, and language bias are purported by the author to be the most common faults of standardized tests. Suggested is the elimination of standardized testing as a principal means…

This report asserts that the evaluation of young children can be viewed as a classic case of evaluation of the culturally different. Emphasized is the fact that not only are the majority of tests developed with an adult's perspective concerning adequacy of directions, items, and formats, but also the evaluation of the products is carried out…

The evidence used in condemning a test as racially biased is usually a validity coefficient for one racial group that is significantly different from that of another racial group. However, both variables in the calculation of a validity coefficient should be examined to determine where the bias lies. A study was conducted to investigate the…

The Pluralistic Assessment Project, which has been funded for three years by the National Institute of Mental Health, was developed in response to the results of earlier studies on the epidemiology of mental retardation. During 1963 and 1964, data were gathered for a comprehensive epidemiology of mental retardation in the City of Riverside,…

Respondents Harley and Sellers, both Negroes, whose applications to become police officers in the District of Columbia had been rejected, claimed that the Department's recruiting procedures, including a written test of verbal skill, were racially discriminatory. The District Court ruled that there was no intentional discrimination; but the Court…

In order to initiate appropriate programs for screening, early intervention, and meaningful psycho-educational programs, a children's community mental health center in Harlem, where over 95 percent of its clientele is black and/or Spanish speaking, requires, for all its referrals, an accurate assessment of intellectual strengths via an IQ battery.…