The purpose of this study was to equate two standardized English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency tests, the New York State Placement Test (NYSPT) and the Combined English Language Skills Assessment (CELSA), with the Mainstream English Language Training (MELT) project Student Performance Levels (SPLs) in order to facilitate the reporting of…

The Student-Problem (S-P) methodology is described using an example of 24 students on a test of 44 items. Information based on the students' test score and the modified caution index is put to diagnostic use. A modification of the S-P methodology is applied to domain-referenced testing. (Author/CM)

Studied validity of the Career Decision Scale (CDS) for use by high school counselors in identifying students needing career services. Results showed that the construct or factor validity of an adapted CDS did not support its use as a measure of different components of educational/vocational indecision. (WAS)

Several surveys of British local school boards' and schools' use of and reaction to standardized tests are reported. Most boards use the tests to monitor for accountability or for transfer or screening. Teachers tend to favor testing but do not use the results. (MSE)

Teachers have become aware that they are expected to make judgments and be judged on the basis of test results. In a shared responsibility among teachers, training institutions, testing companies, and school boards, fair use of tests requires that teachers get information on types of tests and test use. (Author/CM)

Describes the plan used in Consolidated High School District 230, in Palos Hills (Illinois), for fostering an informed and interested school community by providing standardized test results to the school board, central and building administrators, parents, teachers, counselors, elementary educators, and the local press. (PGD)

Raises philosophical and technical questions about the Tennessee minimum competency testing program, including: what subject and skills are basic; who determines what competencies are minimal; what should be the consequences of failure; who is responsible for remediation of failing students; do or should skills being taught match skills being…

Identifies eight factors that should be considered carefully by those who use and interpret achievement test data for individual children: base score, guessing factor, time factor, content validity, test reliability, instructional-level placement, diagnostic analysis, and individual pupil progress data. (RL)

Eighty-seven normal older people were administered the Wisconsin Sorting Test on two occasions averaging over a year apart. There were average retest gains of 5 to 7 standard score points. The standard error of prediction, standard error of difference, and abnormal test-retest discrepancy scores were calculated for clinical use. (SLD)

Five short forms of the revised edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised were compared for use with an inpatient population. Results with 110 psychiatric inpatients are discussed in terms of trade-offs among administration time, accuracy of IQ estimation, and the clinical value of obtaining scores from the full test. (SLD)

This overview of the role of error and tolerance for error in measurement asserts that the generic precision associated with a measurement procedure is defined as the root mean square error, or standard error, in some relevant population. This view of precision is explored in several applications of measurement. (SLD)

Analyzed questions related to education from a statewide poll of citizens in Arkansas. Overall, views of Arkansans are roughly aligned with those of the United States as a whole. About half of the 775 respondents support school vouchers, most believe teacher pay raises should be related to student performance, and more than three-fifths believe…

The concept of consequential validity wrongly links the idea of the consequences of test use with the idea of validity, widely held to be rooted in the accuracy of inferences drawn from examinees' test performances. The reification of consequential validity can distract from a needed clarity about test use consequences. (SLD)

The feasibility and efficacy of using self-report response methods with an In-Basket exercise were evaluated in two studies involving 258 managers and 55 college students, respectively. Results suggest that high face validity of the In-Basket exercise can be combined with the scoring ease and objectivity of self-reports. (SLD)

Eight subtests were selected from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Third Edition (WISC-III) to make a short form for clinical use. Results with the 2,200 children from the WISC-III standardization sample indicated the adequate reliability and validity of the short form for clinical use. (SLD)