This document reports the levels of skill achievement by Florida students as measured by the High School Competency Test (HSCT) and explains the purpose, reporting, and use of HSCT test results. This test measures the ability of students to apply basic skills in communication and mathematics successfully in everyday life situations. Students in…

The 1997-98 school year was the 18th year of statewide student testing under the Arizona Student Achievement Program mandated by Arizona law. For the 1997-98 school year, students in grades 3 through 12 were tested using the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9). This test was administered statewide to 536,254 Arizona students in…

Research reports major concerns over classification and measurement for students with limited English proficiency (LEP). A poor operational definition of the English language proficiency construct and validity concerns about existing language proficiency tests are among these issues. Decisions on including LEP students in large-scale assessments…

This report summarizes the 1998-1999 program evaluation results of AISD's School-to-Career program, which is a system of integrated school-based and work-based learning that integrates academic and occupational learning.

Giving tests and assigning grades are stated to be important aspects of teachers' responsibility for facilitating student learning. Opposition to testing is discussed, objections are criticized, and beneficial consequences of evaluation are listed. It is maintained that tests do not cause cheating, or excessive discouragement, competition, or…

The use of regression equations to predict the expected achievement levels of five- and six-year-old children on the Wide Range Achievement Test are discussed. Problems are found in identifying underachievement for children in the lower primary grades. Implications for the early identification of specific learning disabilities are described.…

An ideal assessment of hearing-impaired children includes: case history; medical examination; tests (of intelligence, personality, achievement, communication/language skills, and aptitude); neuropsychological assessment to identify learning strengths and weaknesses; and multidisciplinary team staffing and parent-teacher conferences. Twenty-eight…

Achievement testing in the next century is going to be very different. Computer technology is going to play a major role in test construction, test administration, scoring, and score reporting. New formats will become possible that incorporate visual and audio components and that permit adaption of tests to individual ability levels. (SLD)

Examines the relationship between a journey and a destination in terms of the educational experience, where learning is the journey but test scores have become the destination. Focuses on the loss of curriculum areas that are untested in favor of the destination of math and reading scores. Asserts that middle school students deserve both measured…

Responds to Dunn's monograph on Hispanic-Anglo differences in IQ scores. Reviews studies of between-group variance in IQ scores for Blacks, Anglos, and Hispanics; concludes that sociocultural factors are major contributors to such variance. Presents an IQ assessment system that develops sociocultural norms via multiple regression. Contains 24…

Using generalizability theory as a framework, the problem of assessing the content validity of standardized achievement tests is considered. Four designs to assess test-item fit to a curriculum are described, and procedures for determining the optimal number of raters and schools in a content-validation decision-making study are considered. (TJH)

Discusses multiple-choice test questions, their advantages, important features, well and poorly written items, and the need to assess students' ability to use higher levels of learning. Cites two ways to include higher level learning skills into the science curriculum and eight rules to consider when constructing multiple-choice tests. (RT)

Possible future practices in testing are discussed, with a critique of current educational measurement. As standardized achievement tests are used for wide-ranging purposes, there will be increasing reliance on item response theory and national item banks. A national system of monitoring development and use of tests will probably emerge. (SLD)

Achievement in English was measured for 64 German eighth graders by a cloze test, which was evaluated by three methods, yielding similar results. Twenty-one native English speakers comprised a criterion group. The cloze test may be appropriate for evaluating oral communication when an oral interview is not feasible. (SLD)

The incidence, correlates, and effects of mathematics anxiety were studied for 154 Japanese children in grades 5 and 6. Factor analysis identified four dimensions of mathematics anxiety, and a number of relationships between achievement test scores and grades, gender, and class were also identified. (SLD)