The testing of many American Indian children using standardized exams (achievement, aptitude, ability, and intelligence tests) developed for the majority American society represents a case of cross-cultural testing which is likely to produce invalid results in the form of underestimation of student performance. Requirements for obtaining accurate…

Goal-referenced tests and standardized achievement tests were used to assess the basic skill levels for reading, writing, and mathematics of students attending Parkrose Public Schools of Portland (Oregon) during the 1983-84/1985-86 period. Focus is on estimating the instructional program's success, providing a resource for planning and…

An introduction by Barbara S. Plake and Joseph C. Witt defines the task of this book as presenting nine conference papers discussing probable directions for the field of measurement and testing. In an effort to contribute to the improvement of test construction and test usage, areas of present concern and potentially important areas for the future…

Over 600 students were served by the Reading/Mathematics Lab Program of the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District. Students enrolled in the mathematics lab at all grade levels attained an increase in mean percentile rank from pre- to post-testing as measured by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills administered in October 1982 and again…

During April, 1986, approximately 60,000 Delaware public school students in grades 1 through 8 and in grade 11 were administered a battery of achievement tests as part of the state-funded Delaware Educational Assessment Program (DEAP). The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) in reading, language arts, and mathematics was administered. In…

The California Assessment Program (CAP) collects a wide range of achievement and demographic data to help local schools and districts improve their instructional programs. Tests in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, history-social science and science designed by California educators are administered to students in grades 3, 6, 8, and…

Existing uses of assessment data obtained from the Jordanian General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (GSECE) are critically examined. The failure to fully realize potential uses of data is explored and explained in light of the existing testing technology and the associated level of expertise. A short description of the GSECE history,…

This publication summarizes the achievement results of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) for grades 1-12 in reading and mathematics for 1975 through 1985. In 1975, the California Achievement Tests (CAT) were administered to students in grades 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. However, in 1976, the testing program was expanded to all…

The term "value added" refers to the assessment of the amount of learning that takes place during the college years. Two experiments, Value Added I and Value Added II, attempted to measure college students' attainment of eight liberal education objectives: (1) writing ability; (2) analytical ability; (3) sensitivity to ethics, morals,…

This volume summarizes the results of the evaluation of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District 1981-82 State Compensatory Education Program. This technical report is organized into eight appendixes. Each appendix reports the information collected by a specific measure. Each appendix consists of (1) an instrument description, (2) purpose of…

The goal of test item writing is to create measures of the true achievement dimensions desired, not extraneous abilities or related skills. To encourage university instructors to apply newer test item writing technologies to test construction for course examinations, this paper: (1) sets forth basic principles for quality item writing; (2) reviews…

In March of 1984, a total of 55,771 New Mexico public school students in grades 3, 5, and 8 were tested with the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) as required by the statewide standardized testing program. This document reports scores as national percentile ranks, and indicates the position of New Mexico students compared to a national…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this test contains (1) general instructions, (2) two minor assignments consisting of literature readings about which the student must write a personal response, and (3) a major assignment requiring students to show how the authors they studied in senior…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this test contains (1) general instructions, (2) two minor assignments consisting of literature readings about which the student must write a personal response, and (3) a major assignment requiring students to show how the authors they studied in senior…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this test on writing contains general instructions and three sections: (1) personal response to literature, which requires a response about an aspect of literature; (2) functional writing, which requires a written response within a given situation or…