Studies and analyses conducted by the Assessment Center at Sacramento City College (SCC) between fall 1983 and fall 1984 provided the data on SCC's students and services which are presented in this report. Following an overview of the significant findings of the year's research efforts, part I sets forth the purpose of the report and part II…

The purpose of this paper is to present two new alternative methods to the current goodness of fit methodology. With the increase use of computerized adaptive test (CAT), the ability to determine the accuracy of calibrated item parameter estimates is paramount. The first method applies a normalizing transformation to the logistic residuals to make…

This document provides a discussion of the scrutiny for bias and unfairness that standardized tests have come under by persons involved in the construction, administration, use, and interpretation of test results. After this discussion six simulation exercises are provided. In these exercises a situation is described involving the use of test…

An urban school district affected by testing in the effective schools context is described in order to provide examples of the effects of testing on teaching and the curriculum. The report describes the method of operationalizing the effective schools research using test information. An important catalyst to improving the instructional program was…

This overview of research focuses on the characteristics of immersion programs in the Ottawa area. These are primary-entry, late-entry (grade 6 or 7), and secondary level bilingual programs. The following matters are treated: tests and testing conditions; comparisons with Canadian Public Service language requirements; comparisons between groups…

The Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS) was developed in order to examine the extent to which Title I (now Chapter 1) is remediating the disadvantages in basic skills of educationally deprived children. TIERS Model A contrasts the achievement of Chapter 1 students to publishers' norms for hypothetically comparable groups of students.…

In self-adapted testing, examinees are allowed to choose the difficulty of each item to be presented immediately before attempting it. Previous research has demonstrated that self-adapted testing leads to better performance than do fixed-order tests and is preferred by examinees. The present study examined the strategies that 29 college students…

The effects of item position on item statistics were studied in a large set of data from tests of word knowledge (WK) and arithmetic reasoning (AR). Position effects on item response theory (IRT) parameter estimates and classical item statistics were also investigated. Data were collected as part of a project to refine the Army's Computerized…

This study was designed to gather data on the meaning of imprecise terms from items written by physicians for their students and by test committees for national licensure and certification examinations. A total of 32 members of test committees who write examination items for various medical specialty examinations participated in the study. Each…

Data collected on the Eastern Kentucky University College of Education by the Office of Educational Research and Evaluation for the 1980-81 academic year are presented. Information is included on: (1) basic skills and personality tests; (2) administration of the National Teachers Examination; (3) competency examinations; (4) establishing validity…

When a variety of groups became concerned with a perceived deficiency in public education in the 1970's, critical attention was successively focused on student accountability, the school curriculum, and teachers. This digest briefly reports on teacher competency testing. The 1980 Gallup Poll showed that 85% of citizens polled said teachers should…

The use of computers to build diagnostic inferences is presented in two contexts: (1) closed world, exemplified by the space shuttle launch monitoring system; and (2) open world, represented by computerized diagnostic testing of reading comprehension. The analysis shows that the closed world provides a substantially cleaner environment within…

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information to teachers and students about the 1988 Social Studies 30 Diploma Examination. The bulletin includes: (1) a description of the examination; (2) an outline of the objectives to be tested; (3) charts illustrating both the multiple-choice and written-response sections of the examination; (4) the…

The answer-until-correct procedure has made comparatively little impact on the field of educational testing due to the absence of a sound theoretical base for turning the response data into measures. Three new latent trait models are described. They differ in their complexity, though each is designed to yield a single parameter to measure student…

Assessment programs, which have recently been implemented in colleges around the country, have indirectly affected the quality of education in ways that are both researchable and measurable. Admissions and placement testing affect educational quality by separating high and low achievers, and making it possible for high-level texts to be used and…