A review of the implications for the validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) of scientific developments accompanying the revival of cognitive psychology provides insights into the importance of such changes. A distinction can be made between a process-oriented or diagnostic test and an outcomes-oriented test such as the SAT. Since the SAT…

The English Language Testing Service (ELTS) Revision Project is a joint British and Australian effort to develop a new test of English language proficiency for use with foreign students. The existing test, in use for seven years, is being radically revised to combine indirect, semi-direct, and direct test types and to focus on both general and…

Although item bias statistics are widely recommended for use in test development and test analysis work, problems arise in their interpretation. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the validity of logistic test models and computer simulation methods for providing a frame of reference for item bias statistic interpretations.…

The evaluation instruments used in the Tennessee Career Ladder program are described, and their evolution over the first three years of program implementation is traced. The instruments are designed to measure teacher performance and to determine outstanding teachers. They include: the Career Ladder Test of Professional Skills (a multiple-choice…

A historical review of educational literature concerning measurement of cognitive skills is provided, with reference to test construction. Focus is on assessing abilities beyond recall of information. In light of interest in assessing critical thinking in the California Assessment Program, it must be noted that concern with critical thinking is…

The Tailored Response Test (TRT) is an approach to assessment that presents information or real-life situations and assesses how the respondent interprets and handles information or situations. Respondents (N=127) were asked to respond to 12 test segments by editing a printed passage or other material following a video presentation of a situation…

The report describes the development and field testing of the Early Social-Communication Scales (ESCS), a measure intended to reflect developmental dimensions of the at-risk infant's and toddler's adaptive interactions. The ESCS was designed to assess three major communicative functions (social interaction, joint attention, and behavior…

Findings are presented from a study designed to develop a physical education criterion reference test (CRT) and to devise norms for intellectually normal, educable mentally impaired, and trainable mentally impaired students (3-12 years old). The lack of valid and reliable CRT batteries for meeting the physical education needs of handicapped…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) approach to developing assessments is described. NAEP will solicit views concerning assessment objectives and use the consensus approach. NAEP results can impact educational policy and school and classroom practices. Several policies have been adopted to provide improved information about…

Several techniques have been developed for creating continuous smooth distributions of test norms. This paper describes two studies that explore the behavior of cubic splines in order to determine their appropriateness for use in test norming. The first study uses data from the Curriculum Referenced Tests of Mastery (CRTM) and employs two…

The information contained in this report describes the 1982 Manitoba (Canada) Writing Assessment Program and the results of student performance on the grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 writing tests. Various sections of the report provide the following information: (1) steps in the assessment program and procedures for comparison with the 1979 assessment;…

A two-phase study was conducted to develop an instrument for evaluating college forensics directors. In the first phase, randomly selected schools with forensic departments were sent three questionnaires. The department chair of each school was asked to write an evaluation of the current director of forensics, and the director and the students in…

A study identified the variables affecting the vocational choice of college women. During the research project, a 97-item instrument entitled the Work Interest Questionnaire (WIQ) was developed and administered to 437 undergraduate female students enrolled at a large Midwestern university. The subjects were selected based on their varying fields…

At Santa Fe Community College, the development of a biology course and departmental final examination was accomplished in the following stages: (1) faculty reached consensus on course content, major objectives and sub-objectives; (2) faculty contributed final examination questions corresponding to the 10 major course topics to a pool for review…

The School Subjects Attitude Scales is an instrument for measuring students' attitudes toward school subjects for grades 5-12. Twenty-four bipolar word pairs are used with evaluation, usefulness, and difficulty scales. The word pairs were selected on the basis of discussions and analysis of trial forms. Results can be used in program evaluation…