The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally funded, nationwide survey of educational achievement in 10 academic fields. The program is examined to determine whether viable alternatives exist to measure educational achievement. The information produced by NAEP concerns the educational achievement of 9-year-olds;…

Since the approval of the Basic Skills Improvement Policy in 1978, the Massachusetts Department of Education has been developing tests and alternative forms for the assessment of student achievement in five basic skills content areas: reading, writing, mathematics, listening, and speaking. Because of the lack of previous research on which to draw…

This document contains the proceedings of a conference on improving the academic skills of urban students. Titles and authors of the twelve included papers are: (1) "Academic Skills and the SAT," George H. Hanford; (2) "New York City Promotional Gates Program: Implications for Instruction of Academic Skills," Charlotte Frank;…

Focusing on technical issues, this paper critiques proposed changes in assessment procedures at the further educational level (ages 16 through 18) in England and Wales. Major structural changes are taking place at this educational level, partly because of large scale youth unemployment. The two current examination systems for the final year of…

This summary report evaluates the 1983-84 Portland Public Schools Chapter 1 program in terms of achievement gains on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills and the Portland Achievement Test. The Chapter l project included three public high schools, 50 public elementary schools, and 14 nonpublic elementary schools. At any given time, about 7,000…

During spring 1983, approximately 12,000 students who were enrolled in the court-identified minority-isolated (MI) schools in the San Diego City Schools were administered the appropriate levels of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS). The content areas of reading, language, and mathematics were assessed. In Grades 5, 7, and 9, all…

Standardized achievement tests and instructional accomplishment inventories involve different methodologies and cannot be equated by using conventional psychometric methods. Instructional accomplishment inventories are descriptive, and are designed to reflect the scope, sequence, and skills and emphasis in a particular instructional program.…

This guide--written for school administrators, teachers, counselors, parents, and the community--describes educational tests and measurements and test-related statistics. While specifically intended to help readers interpret the tests administered in the Los Angeles (California) Unified School District, this information may also be used to…

This research program was designed to investigate the applications of item response theory and computerized adaptive testing to the unique problems of the measurement of ability and the measurement of achievement. The research utilized a combination of monte carlo simulation studies and live-testing studies. The research approach for adaptive…

Intended for students taking the Grade 3 Language Arts Achievement Test in Alberta Canada, this booklet contains the reading portion of the test, which consists of 36 multiple choice questions related to the 10 stories, reports, poems, or short paragraphs provided in the booklet. The machine-readable answer sheet is included in the booklet. (EL)

The Social Studies Assessment Program was a province-wide assessment of Social Studies concepts, skills, and attitudes in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 in Manitoba (Canada) carried out during April, 1984. Designed to provide a profile of student performance on program objectives, the test was administered to a representative sample of students at each…

This quarterly bulletin provides brief annotations for tests recently acquired by the Educational Testing Service Collection. The tests are grouped into several categories, including: (1) achievement, (2) personality, interest, attitudes and opinions, and (3) sensory-motor and miscellaneous. Additional information includes test announcements,…

School unit achievement gains computed by six different methods are compared. The data include total reading scores from the Metropolitan Achievement Test administered to Title I students in 32 elementary schools. The achievement gains were computed in standard scores, grade equivalents, percentile ranks, residual scores based on individual scores…

This 32-item bibliography was compiled to provide access to research and discussions of domain referenced testing. It is not limited to any educational level, nor is it confined to any specific curriculum area. Five data bases were searched by computer. A computer search of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) data base yielded…

Declining test scores have been publicized throughout the nation for the past several years as a major educational issue. Because of the kinds of statements made, the conclusions drawn by educators and public alike, the San Mateo Educational Resources Center requested that a review of the literature and a bibliography be prepared that indicated…