The application of a well-known and fairly simple information retrieval technology to the process of testing undergraduate college students is described. The Computerized Test Library allows the student and/or the professor to extract questions of varying difficulty covering whatever topic the student is studying; if the student performs at the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of pretesting results on the future learning behavior of graduate students of a university. The teaching technique used was pretesting to assess student entry behavior. Considered in the study was the effect on student behavior of the instructor informing the class they had failed to meet the…

In the first of three experiments, university undergraduates were presented a list of 300 words and 100 nonwords in two sessions. Their confidence that an item was a word was indicated for each item on a six-point scale. This experiment demonstrated the feasibility of creating a recognition test of vocabulary. In Experiment 2, 100 items were…

This report was requested by the Lunenburg, Massachusetts Public Schools through the Merrimack Education Center. Under the agreement with the Center, the consultant, with the assistance of several associates, evaluated the statewide program in the town of Lunenburg. Objectives were to determine the system's total evaluation needs from an…

Article discussed the disadvantages of student testing as a means of evaluating student progress in the classroom and suggested the use of a new model of assessment. Three steps intended for classroom diagnosis of students were described. (RK)

Author argued that educational evaluation must be broadened considerably from a narrow, quantitative approach to one that also includes qualitative aspects of educational life. (Author/RK)

Examines the problems of constructing tests and shows how the rules of transformation generative grammar can be used to produce easily understood test questions. (RB)

The author examines performance contracting, the planning programming and budgeting system (PPBS), testing, and the voucher system to show that accountability (when equated to expenditures and statistical data) is inappropriate when applied to education. (MJB)

Attempts to retain the gains that have been made and recapture desirable aspects of the IOA technique that may have been lost over the years. Describes seven major assumptions on which the technique is based. The IOA reveals the relative level of achievement of each of the instructional objectives by individual students as well as by groups of…

Authors are officials at the Education Department of the National Union of Teachers and have been monitoring the policies of LEAs concerning testing and assessment in schools. Here is their report. (Editor/RK)

Reports results of a study conducted to determine the level of occupational knowledge of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and the extent to which these levels are influenced by the rural community in which the students live. It was concluded that a career education program would provide more knowledge of non-local occupations to give rural…

A formula for converting raw test scores to refined, more meaningful scores is presented. Formula scores are easily computed. (SD)

The president of the Educational Testing Service gives a history and an overview of the organization. (IRT)

The article summarizes a typology of 21 selected curriculum-based assessment (CBA) measures available to early childhood specialists serving handicapped children, including normal developmental CBA scales, adaptive measures, handicap-specific instruments, strategy-matched materials, and curriculum-referenced measures. (Author/JW)

A monograph issue on the development and use of a prescriptive measurement method is introduced. Given such a measurement system, it is possible to investigate both level and pattern of a student's performance, and to diagnose specific gaps in learning. (LMO)