Addressing issues facing vocational education on the topic of performance testing, this handbook consists of a collection of seventeen commissioned papers and reactions to the papers. Two papers are presented on each of the following types of issues that must be considered before a performance test can be constructed: philosophical, technical,…

A DISCUSSION OF TEST VARIABLES AND THE TESTING PROGRAM OF THE PROJECT WAS INITIALLY PRESENTED IN THIS DOCUMENT. CAUTION WAS PARTICULARLY EMPHASIZED IN THE INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS USING STANDARD ACHIEVEMENT TESTS WITH SUBJECTS FROM THE MODESTO MULTI OCCUPATIONAL PROJECT. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVED PROGRAM EVALUATION INCLUDED ADDITIONAL…

In an invitational address to the Victorian Institute of Educational Research, the author discussed Bayesian theory and its relationship to the design and construction of tailored or adaptive tests. Bayesian thinking involves recognizing the role of prior probabilities and using these probabilities in combination with new data to arrive at future…

The premise that there are no valid and reliable psychological tests for use with Indochinese refugees is discussed. The history of the use of tests in the United States has been promulgated as being beneficial to the minority group members exposed to them without revealing their underlying discriminatory uses. Only the System of Multicultural…

The paper briefly describes assessment practices in terms of their theoretical principles. The practices include: (a) the client is an informed participant even during the assessment process; (b) the referral is situated in terms of actual events; (c) life events are primary data, and test scores are secondary or derived data; (d) interpretation…

This criticism of writing competency tests questions both the efficacy of a test developed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the reliance of individual states on the products of private testmakers. The paper suggests that a hidden curriculum is being developed by independent and semi-independent organizations that…

Latent trait test score theory is discussed primarily in terms of Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic model, and with some reference to the Rasch model. Equations and graphic illustrations are given for item characteristic curves and item information curves. An example is given for a hypothetical 20-item adaptive test, showing cumulative results…

This manual is designed to assist personnel involved in work with the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Follow Through Evaluation testing program. Follow Through is a number of planned education programs for children in kindergarten and primary grades (1-3). Job descriptions for each person working in the testing program are included. In addition,…

Confidence Weighting (CW), after Ebel, and Multiple Responding (MR), after Coombs, are compared empirically to determine which improved test reliability more in the case of a course pretest derived from the final examination. It was hypothesized that MR, which purportedly measures partial knowledge, would be more effective than CW, which measures…

The feasibility of completely automating the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was tested, and item response latencies were compared with other MMPI item characteristics. A total of 26 scales were successfully scored automatically for 165 subjects. The program also typed a Mayo Clinic interpretive report on a computer terminal,…

There exist special problems in testing first-grade children. Orally administered yes-no tests reduce the problems found in the other types, but they have their own drawbacks. A solution to some of these drawbacks is the use of the matched-pair scoring technique. For each "yes" item on the test there is included a "reversed" or…

Developing practical achievement tests for use at the primary-grade level is a difficult task. Some problems encountered appear to be resolved by using verbally administered yes-no tests. But such tests are criticized as having a low reliability because they offer only two choices. Two modifications of the yes-no test have been proposed to…

A pretest-posttest design for measuring the effects of educational programs uses comparison groups consisting of pupils like those in the treatment group but not getting that particular treatment. Although the design is geared primarily to evaluation of Title I programs in large cities, it should also apply to other situations. The plan for…

The testing sub-program is designed to provide the diagnostic instruments necessary to measure pupil progress through the Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI) curricula. Its objectives are to provide information about pupils which teachers can use to direct each child's individual learning program, to provide the measurements necessary for…

The teaching performance test is a recently developed assessment technique designed to sharpen our teacher competence evaluation procedures. It assesses a teacher's ability to promote learner mastery of prespecified instructional objectives during a relatively short lesson designed by the teacher. The principal contributions of this paper are the…