A study was conducted to determine whether conventional instruction and mastery-based auto-tutorial instruction interacted with learning characteristics that were found to be instruction-interactive in previous research. Conventional instruction consisted of lecture with discussion and laboratory periods. The mastery-based auto-tutorial…

In a discussion of the value of standardized tests and their implications for effective teaching, the author contends that such tests are useful in keeping those concerned with the learning process focused on the main target. In addition, standardized tests serve to (1) reveal variations in the effectiveness of different instructional procedures…

To comply with the Oklahoma legislative intent, a statewide random sample of students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 were tested in mathematics and reading. Students in grades 3, 6, and 9 were administered the California Achievement Tests (CAT), reading and mathematics subtests. It was concluded that: more students scored above, rather than below,…

Empirical studies are reviewed of sex bias and psychometric bias in aptitude and achievement tests. It is concluded that: (1) of four studies of sex bias, all found that the language used in the tests favored males, but, at the elementary-secondary level, sex bias has been decreasing; (2) of 15 analyses of psychometric bias, all found an…

This guide begins with a series of questions and answers which introduce Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory as a 188-to 190-item multiple choice test for fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades. Items are selected from a 400-item bank using matrix sampling procedures. Test results are analyzed at the school level; no…

This book presents the results of 15 years of input-output (I-O) research on schooling effectiveness. The I-O approach identifies and measures the inschool and out-of-school factors that contribute to schooling outcomes, especially reading skills and verbal and mathematics achievement. Five categories of inputs are reviewed in this textbook: (1)…

The orientation of this report is that of identifying educational projects which can be considered truly exemplary. The bulk of the report consists of a 23-step procedure for validating the effectiveness of educational programs using existing evaluation data. It is not intended as a guide for conducting evaluations but rather for interpreting data…

Limited to a comparison of one open school and one traditional school, this study was performed to empirically assess the claims of open classroom proponents. Approximately 250 students in grades 1 through 6 of two elementary schools, one utilizing an open classroom instructional program and the other a traditional instructional program, comprised…

Tests are inevitably designed to measure students and therefore will affect both teaching techniques and the student's concept of what is important in learning. Standardized, objective high school English tests, which neglect the individual's needs or accomplishments, limit classroom freedom and the natural course of the curriculum. An integral…

This project was composed of two major research experiments and four subsidiary experiments, designed to test alternative ways of constructing and applying occupational problem-solving materials. In Part I, Difficulty Level of Simulated Vocational Problems in Encouraging Career Exploration, it was found that the difficulty level did significantly…

Two laboratory instructional approaches, individual project and mass production methods, were compared to determine their relative effectiveness in developing student understanding of industry in industrial arts. It was hypothesized that knowledge of tools, operations, industrial organization, and materials of industry could be taught as…

A 3-year study of the Monongalia County (Morgantown, W. Va.) Follow Through Program is presented. The program, known as Educational Renaissance in Appalachia (ERA), was designed to provide educational countermeasures to assist children in acquiring the ability to question values critically and to develop new concepts in lieu of some of the values…

The Early Childhood Inventories Project (ECIP) was initiated to originate aptitude/achievement type inventories which could assess very specific behaviors of young children, particularly disadvantaged children. In practice these inventories are "non-specific" type criterion-referenced measures. This first aspect of the project involved…

This handbook describes the nature, uses, and limitations of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) language proficiency tests for teachers and advanced students. The proficiency tests are examined in seven areas of language teaching competence: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, applied linguistics, civilization and…

This volume, one in a series in applied linguistics, is a concise handbook of testing theory and practice in foreign language instruction. Two broad categories, "prognosis" and the "evaluation of attainment," are treated in five major chapters, including: (1) prognostic measurement, (2) achievement measurement, (3) proficiency measurement, (4)…