Educators have long debated the usefulness (or otherwise) of final examinations; a debate that has typically revolved around the relative merits of closed-book exams, open-book exams, take-home exams or their substitution by some other assessment format (e.g., project work). This paper adds a new dimension to the debate by considering how the…

The authors write about evaluation, testing, and research and their relation to policy, planning, and program in the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky. The authors focus on evaluation and testing for accountability and on managing the unit for this purpose. In detail they show the many evaluation demands from both…

In line with the cognitive-contextual framework proposed by Grych and Fincham (1990), evidence suggests that children exposed to interparental conflict (IPC) are at risk for experiencing conflict within their own intimate relationships. The mediating role of adolescent appraisal in the relation between IPC and adolescent dating behavior was…

This study compared learning for fifth grade students in two math homework conditions. The paper-and-pencil condition represented traditional homework, with review of problems in class the following day. The Web-based homework condition provided immediate feedback in the form of hints on demand and step-by-step scaffolding. We analyzed the results…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

Dichotomous search strategies (DSSs) for computerized adaptive testing are similar to golden section search strategies (GSSSs). Each middle point of successive search regions is a testing point. After each item is administered, the subject's obtained score is compared with the expected score at successive testing points. If the subject's obtained…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is compared to the two studies of the National Educational Longitudinal Studies (NELS) Program--the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972 (resurveyed in 1973, 1974, 1976, and 1979) and the 1980 High School and Beyond study (partially resurveyed and retested in 1982). The third phase…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) currently tests seventeen-year-old students enrolled in public and private secondary schools, but it does not test "out-of-school" seventeen-year-olds who have either graduated or dropped out. Estimating that one of five seventeen-year-olds is out of school, the interpretability of…

The Council of Chief State School Officers has raised some issues pertinent to the implementation of a national project to collect statistical indicators of academic achievement and to compare them across states. The United States Department of Education shares this concern, with an emphasis on sampling schools for a school level analysis which…

This paper contains a comparison of descriptive information based on analyses of pilot and live administrations of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The test is composed of three subject tests: Reading, Mathematics, and Language. The study was intended to validate the test development procedure by comparing difficulty levels…

An overview of the development of a computerized version of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) is presented. It describes the previously existing printed version of the DAT, design of the computerized adaptive edition, calibration of the test items for use in the computerized version, and two field studies that compared the Adaptive and…

Latent trait model calibration procedures were used on data obtained from a group testing program. The one-parameter model of Wright and Panchapakesan and the three-parameter logistic model of Wingersky, Wood, and Lord were selected for comparison. These models and their corresponding estimation procedures were compared, using actual and simulated…

The "A" testing program of the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study, Phase III-B, is summarized. A sample of 150 second grade and 134 fifth grade students completed the reading and mathematics achievement battery, as well as affective scales regarding reading, mathematics, and school. The administration procedures, test results, and psychometric…

A project continued activity to improve the occupational competency assessment program for evaluating and certifying vocational education teachers. Development of new testing was continued by Temple University, The Pennsylvania State University, and University of Pittsburgh. Workshops for test developers were conducted to ensure standardization of…

TESTING IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS BECAUSE THE NATURE OF AUDIOLINGUAL TEACHING REQUIRES GREAT AMOUNTS OF FEEDBACK, REINFORCEMENT, AND VERIFICATION. TESTS CAN MEASURE APTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT, CAN DIAGNOSE, AND, MOST IMPORTANT, CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE TEACHING TOOL. MANY TEACHING TECHNIQUES ARE EXCELLENT FOR TESTING AND SOME…