Intended for use by school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers, and proctors, this manual contains general information on Regents examinations and competency tests. Specifically, the regulations and procedures for ordering, administering, rating, and reporting results of these examinations are described. Information is also included…

A tailored testing model employing the beta distribution, whose mean equals the difficulty of an item and whose variance is approximately equal to the sampling variance of the item difficulty, and employing conditional item difficulties, is proposed. (Author)

The 27 papers in this collection (26 of which were presented at the conference) are organized according to the eight topical sessions: (1) Improving Ability Measurement Using Different Item Formats, (2) Alternative Models for Adaptive Testing, (3) Psychological and Subgroup Effects, (4) Performance Testing by Interactive Simulation, (5)…

The purpose of this study was to further examine the reliability of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), a new instrument to measure hearing vocabulary so that a student's verbal intelligence may be inferred. A group testing procedure was utilized by reproducing the PPVT plates on 35 millimeter transparent slides and projecting them onto a…

This report describes the stratified adaptive (stradaptive) test as a strategy for tailoring an ability test to individual differences in testee ability; administration of the test is controlled by a time-shared computer system. The rationale of this method is described as it derives from Binet's strategy of ability test administration and…

We are concerned with the hypothesis that two variables have a perfect disattenuated correlation, hence measure the same trait except for errors of measurement. This hypothesis is equivalent to saying, within the adopted model, that true scores of two psychological tests satisfy a linear relation. A statistical test of this hypothesis is derived…

Difficulties in the organization and application of psychological testing for public school children can be discussed. (MB)

New theory and practice in testing is replacing the standard test by the test item bank and classical test theory by item response theory. Eight papers and a commentary are presented in this special issue concerning test item banking. (SLD)

A computerized adaptive testing procedure for measuring mathematical skills of 60 deaf college students was evaluated. Ability estimates were compared for stability to those obtained earlier from conventional testing. Adaptive testing increased measurement efficiency by reducing test length. Student attitudes toward computerized testing were…

Much of the debate on testing over the last two decades has centered on issues of equity. In this review of testing and the minority child, the ways in which schools can test and use test results to help all children learn are explained. (Author)

Describes a computer-based method of confidence-testing, available in batch processing and interactive form, which improves a student's ability to assess probabilities during clinical diagnosis. The methods and results of three experiments are presented. (EAO)

In order to use Norm referenced tests (NRT) in a meaningful way, test users have to understand the limitations of NRT to fully or accurately assess the test taker. NRT needs to be put into perspective with other information and integrated with an individual's experiences, needs, values, goals and objectives. (Author)

This article discusses the structure of a committee that evaluates assessments for students with visual impairments and the process by which the committee arrives at its recommendations to test developers and administrators. Concerns and preferred practices that have been revealed by the committee's two years of experience are discussed. (CR)

Application of computer-assisted testing (CAT) to measurement in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools is described. Focus is on MicroCAT's developmental subsystem, which allows creation of items and test design specifications. Changes in CAT procedures allowing MicroCAT to function in existing testing systems and uses/limitations of MicroCAT…

Computers are used to manage assessment information for special education students and to administer, score, and interpret tests. Although the content validity of computer-administered assessment instruments may have certain practical limitations, several useful advantages can be gained by using computer-administered tests, including real-time…