Research has recognized that anxiety may exert a debilitating effect on students' academic performance; however, many studies of test anxiety have been limited by their failure to consider sex differences. Two studies were conducted to analyze sex differences of the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS) and achievement correlates and to validate a factor…

The testing of bilingual students poses particular problems for analyses of performance, item bias, and test adequacy. A test administered in two languages to children selected for their language facility provides a special arena for the study of these problems. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) was selected because the test content…

Correlation, regression, and score interval analyses were conducted for academic tests including the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Test of Standard Written English (TSWE), and four subtests of the English Placement Test (EPT) for six different groups. The groups were men, women, Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and whites. The use of grade point…

A study was conducted to assess the impact of the Florida State Student Assessment Test (FSSAT) (Functional Literacy Test) on the enrollment in secondary-level vocational education courses. The 67 school districts in Florida were grouped according to population density into three levels of urbanization (low, medium, and high). Ten percent of the…

A recent California Supreme Court ruling required San Diego Unified School District to implement a course of study in its minority isolated schools that would result in 50 percent of the students achieving at or above national norms on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. In response to the court order, the district initiated the Achievement…

Criticism of the American public school has abounded since its inception. Among the favorite indictments of the mid-1970s is the alleged failure of the public school to adequately teach fundamental skills. This book is intended to help the reader assess contemporary attacks on public schools in an intelligent and responsible manner. It draws on a…

The effects of objective test answer changing on total test scores of students in grades 4 through 7, and the influences of sex, grade level, test content, and their interrelationships were examined. Standardized tests in reading and mathematics were administered at grade level and out-of-level. Answer changing was assessed by observing responses…

Two studies were conducted of the effects of sex biased items on achievement test scores obtained by male and female college students. Sex bias was defined as a disproportionate number of references to one sex. Study I used 1,008 classroom test items. Items were classified as male sex referent, female sex referent, no sex referent (neutral), or…

This equating study of the National Board of Medical Examiners Examinations was a combined common persons and common items equating, using the Rasch model. The 1,000-item test was administered to about 3,000 second-year medical students in seven equal-length subtests: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, and…

Differences among test item writers and among different rules for writing multiple choice items were investigated. Items testing comprehension of a prose passage were varied according to five factors: (1) information density of the passage; (2) item writer; (3) deletion of nouns, as opposed to adjectives, from the sentence in order to construct…

A series of reports describes the activities of the Office of Research and Evaluation and compiles data descriptive of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. This report consists of four appendices, one for each of four test batteries: California Achievement Tests, Sequential Tests of Educational Progress, Boehm Tests of Basic Concepts,…

This study investigated the predictive validity of the Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI) using pupil gains on teacher-made tests (TMT) as a criterion. The TPAI and the TMT's were administered to 56 elementary and secondary classrooms in Georgia. Results supported the validity of the TPAI with a large number of correlations ranging…

The Mathematics Achievement Test Project (MATP) was set up by the Learning Assessment Branch of the Ministry of Education of British Columbia to develop testing materials to assist teachers throughout the province in the task of evaluating students' performance in mathematics. The two major objectives of the project were to construct "banks" of…

A guide to assist prospective test users in the selection of commonly used standardized achievement tests is presented. The tests include seven readiness tests (prekindergarten and kindergarten), 10 English reading and mathematics tests (grades 1 through 12), and two Spanish achievement tests (grades 1 through 12). Most of the readiness tests are…

A four-part study was undertaken at Virginia Western Community College to determine the effectiveness of using the Cooperative English Expression Tests (CEET) and/or high school English grades to place students in English 111 (Eng 111) or Developmental English 01 (Dev Eng 01). During Winter 1976, all students (N=110) enrolled in Dev Eng 01 were…