Articles in this series on testing and evaluation specifically address the use of tests to assess and improve educational status; achievement test selection; and trend toward increased use of coaching materials to improve test performance. Professional literature on educational measurement is reviewed. (MBR)

Describes a one-semester conversational language course based on specific proficiency goals. The oral proficiency pre- and posttests, goal contracts outlining performance objectives for each chapter of the text, specific instructional and grading techniques, and class activities are detailed. (MSE)

The topic of high-stakes testing (HST) is important because HST has direct and indirect effects on career-technical education (CTE) programs and timely because HST increasingly enters public discussion and has produced a large body of research and practice that generalizes to CTE. A review of HST has identified two persisting dilemmas: policy and…

In most interest inventories, a single stimulus item is presented and the respondent indicates a preference in terms of degree of like, dislike, or indifference. This approach provides normative scales with scores that may be compared with various group distributions. The forced choice of options adds to the score on the scale for option selected…

The Verbal, Mathematics, Academic, and General self-concept scales of the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQII) (H. Marsh, 1990, 1993) were translated into Chinese and administered to high school students in China (N=493). Item scale correlations and reliability coefficients were good (alphas=0.85, 0.91, 0.87, and 0.86 respectively). Confirmatory…

This directory is intended to provide technical assistance for Nevada school districts and other evaluators of preschool children in selecting appropriate instruments to use in the multidisciplinary process for special education eligibility. It is not a list of approved tests, and tests not listed in this directory may be appropriate for…

The Connecticut Department of Education is in the process of generating a new Beginning Educator Support and Training Program (B.E.S.T.), which features a vision for the future, standards for elementary teaching, and performance and portfolio assessments. The aim is to develop a fluid plan for professional development of teachers. This case study…

This report looks at the extent to which it was possible, using data from 1994 and 1995, to provide value-added scores for schools in three Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England. The number of terms students spend in school and their academic progress are reviewed, and the responses of the LEAs to the summary of issues related to…

In 1995, nearly three-quarters of a million high school dropouts took the General Educational Development (GED) tests. The half million individuals who passed the test accounted for approximately one-sixth of all high school diplomas issued that year. On average, GED recipients perform as well as graduating high school seniors on the five tests…

This exploration of gender and test fairness first considers ways in which women and men sometimes differ in test performance, and then examines some of the aspects of why they differ, focusing on aspects that have implications for the design of fair tests. The first chapter introduces the context of the topic, the nature of test fairness, and the…

This annual report combines the November, January, April, June, and August provincial results in diploma examination courses in Alberta, Canada. The graphs, tables, and text describe student performance for the entire school year. The report is designed to assist school personnel in identifying patterns of student achievement in Alberta and…

The goal of this series of guides is to show Texas educators what components of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum are eligible for testing on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and end-of-course tests. This guide contains information for the end-of-course tests administered for the following subjects: Algebra…

Prekindergarten students (n=1,137) in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse urban public school took a kindergarten diagnostic assessment in September prior to entry into the regular kindergarten program. The assessment was a pilot version of a longer instrument that had been used at the school for several years. Results were used for…

This report starts with a quick review of the beginning of standardized testing in U.S. schools and the reasons for growing reliance on testing. It summarizes the recent promising trends and suggests how testing for accountability could be less intrusive and provide better information about achievement in schools. The proposal for a voluntary…

Contains 11 articles about educational testing focused on the topics of guidance and information management, student achievement, mathematics teaching/learning, test score interpretation, alternatives to standardized testing, evaluation of multicultural and exceptional children, learning/cognitive training assessment models, and "blue…