This paper reviews literacy and literacy assessment in America, in relation to the various National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessments. Literacy can be defined and assessed only in relation to literacy demands. A current concept of literacy distinguishes between reading comprehension as an outcome of lexical access and…

The reading objectives and the measurement specifications cited in this document are congruent with the Texas State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum. The objectives are provided for teachers and for test developers involved with the preparation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests. As of 1985-86 academic year,…

Results of the West Virginia State-County Testing Program from 1982 to 1985 are summarized. The test battery includes the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS); the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT), a test of scholastic ability; and the West Virginia Student Questionnaire, which includes school subjects interest ratings, educational plans, and…

This article presents a quantitative synthesis of examiner familiarity effects on Caucasian and minority students' test performance. Fourteen controlled studies were coded in terms of methodological quality (high vs. low) and race-ethnicity (Caucasian vs. Black and Hispanic). An analogue to analysis of variance conducted on weighted unbiased…

This paper describes the development of the Basic Educational Skills Test (BEST) in the Austin Independent School District. In 1982 future options for the AISD minimum competency program, which requires all students to meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics before graduation, were evaluated against legal and local criteria. It…

This document presents information to trainers already trained in the Registered Holistic scoring method. It has been developed to assist these trainers in training others in the procedures and the criteria of the new scoring method. The Registered Holistic scoring method was designed and field tested for the ninth grade writing sample component…

Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests have been based on the objectives provided in this publication for teachers and test development specialists. Reading skills objectives for grade 7 include the ability to: (1) identify the main idea; (2) use context to understand the meaning of…

The purpose of this booklet is to provide social studies teachers with student writing samples that exemplify the criteria used to score students' responses on the June 1987 Alberta (Canada) Social Studies 30 Diploma Examination. Students choose one of two possible essay questions that required writing a defense of individual initiative in…

A study involving 103 male and 117 female students entering a major urban university assessed the interaction between test anxiety and skill deficits. The effects of prior achievement and test anxiety on performance on two competency exams were also examined. Instruments consisted of minimum competency tests for reading comprehension and…

The four chapters in this resource book provide general considerations for the development of teacher-made achievement tests in science for students with visual, hearing, and/or orthopedic impairments. Chapter 1 focuses on changes in classroom testing by considering the testing of handicapped students, norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced…

College seniors--129 who were 25 years of age or older, and 734 younger students were administered the objective portion of the American College Testing (ACT) College Outcomes Measures Project (COMP) test. The total COMP scores and subscores were compared for the two groups, as well as their entering ACT scores and grade-point averages using…

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is purported to be less culturally biased than other, traditional measures of intellectual ability. The present study was designed to investigate three specific research questions: (1) Are there overall performance differences between Native American and non-Native American children on the WISC-R…

Reasons to de-emphasize testing as a means of assessing teacher quality are offered in this paper. The following questions pertinent to teacher testing are asked: (1) Granted that teacher education is now attracting low caliber students, can the testing movement reverse the trend? (2) Is it justifiable to determine, and even predict, the quality…

This report is designed to provide numerical data about student performance on the curriculum of the Boston (Massachusetts) Public Schools (BPS) as measured by curriculum referenced tests (CRTs). BPS Department of Educational Testing analyzed data from the 1986 CRT final exams in: reading and language arts (grades K-8), high school English (six…

The present system of testing and placement at Lane Community College (LCC) provides for voluntary assessment in reading, writing, and mathematics during orientation period, followed by recommendations for enrollment in appropriate courses. While only 15% to 20% of the new students at LCC participate in the testing/placement program, it must be…