The South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP), a testing program, presents information to determine how successfully children in individual school districts are achieving the minimum basic skills required by South Carolina law. Each year BSAP tests are given to children entering the first grade and to children in grades 1, 2, 3, 6, 8,…

The document reports on a series of 18 regional workshops for school psychologists on assessment of visually handicapped students. Workshop topics are summarized, and materials indexed in an appendix are cross referenced for each topic: background information (social attitudes regarding vision loss, developmental implications); assessment (use of…

In order for Child Protective Services (CPS) to be increasingly effective in a community, there must be a continuing attempt to build and maintain a sense of trust and credibility between local CPS agencies and school systems. Literature justifies the need for a teacher inservice training by the necessity of developing greater community awareness…

This paper presents a study of eidetic imagery in children. An eidetic image refers to an afterimage which is both more vivid and longer lasting than other afterimages. The study attempts to analyze eidetic imagery as a psychometric problem and to relate it to other conceptually similar cognitive abilities. Two hundred forty-two second and third…

The well-known study on fear of success (FOS) by Horner (1968) asserted that women low in FOS do better on achievement-oriented tasks under competitive conditions, while women high in the motive do better when the situation is non-competitive. This paper critically reviews the methodology of this study and concludes that the statistical test…

Three statistical problems related to criterion-referenced testing are investigated: estimation of the likelihood of a false-positive or false-negative decision with a mastery test, estimation of true scores in the Compound Binomial Error Model, and comparison of the examinees to a control. Two methods for estimating the likelihood of…

Several issues are related to the use of educational tests. First, test users must be able to choose appropriate tests, interpret scores, and make decisions based on scores. In the field of educational testing, few test users have adequate training in these areas. Second, test makers must clearly specify directions for administration, allowable…

Twelve tests of reading and math at the elementary level are classified according to a model which makes a distinction between criterion and domain tests. Score reporting and item analysis techniques are discussed. It is argued that most objectives-referenced tests do not specify their domains sufficiently to make interpretations more general than…

The author stresses the need for caution in using intelligence test results to identify mildly retarded children under seven years of age. (LH)

A factor analytic study of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was undertaken to determine the component abilities that underlie performance on the test for several major language groups: African, Arabic, Chinese (non-Taiwanese), Farsi, Germanic, Japanese, and Spanish. Evidence was found that three major factors underlie performance…

The preparation and use of an objective strength analysis report (OSAR) from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) are described. The OSAR was designed to answer two needs: (1) a format which allows the school to easily answer the question "which reading objectives need more emphasis and/or better materials or techniques in order to raise its…

In the spring of 1980, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS) completed its second year of basic skills testing. During the first year, the Basic Skills Assessment Program tested students' math skills in grades 7 and 11, and reading and language skills in grades 9 and 11. During the second year, the testing program was expanded to…

Some uses of achievement tests to provide information for school administrators are described. Three systematic programs are described briefly: (1) a computer-based approach to management and planning designed to answer what is to be learned, how is it to be learned, and has it been learned; (2) a problem solving design for accountability that…

The profiles of the California Statewide assessment program permit comparison of a district's test performance with that of previous years and of other districts. After a brief explanation of the tests' development, content, administration, and limitations, this interpretive guide explains how the results are displayed in the district profiles. A…

In February, 1976, the Education Policy Research Institute sponsored this conference on the use of tests in educational policy formation; these six papers were presented at that conference. In the first paper, Jenne K. Britell discusses four points that have historically characterized debates about testing; psychometric and technical issues;…