For use by those preparing statewide competency testing programs and those developing basic skills examinations at the postsecondary level, this paper provides guidelines for writing items for tests of basic reading skills. Following a discussion of how to choose appropriate items, how to word items, and how to select appropriate reading passages,…

Describes six rubrics for appraising the assessments teacher interns create and use in student teaching. The rubrics help teacher educators make judgements about student teachers' knowledge and skill in developing assessments. The six criteria are: alignment with learning outcomes, clarity/understanding of assessment, reliability, feasibility,…

Designed to assist practitioners with the actual conduct of career education program evaluations in teacher education, this handbook has four sections which parrallel the evaluation process. The first section describes the evaluation process and the need to assess the audience to be in a better position to decide on the procedures to use and the…

The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) is a statewide program designed to ensure that all students attending public colleges and universities have the basic reading, mathematics, and writing skills necessary to perform effectively at the college level. All entering first-time freshmen are required to take the TASP test, which has a basic skills…

This manual is designed as a guide for the initial training of raters and referees in holistic evaluation of writing samples. It is intended for use by a single trainer in a group of twelve (nine raters, three referees) trainees. The manual is divided into sections corresponding to the procedures to be used in the training sessions. The left hand…

Technical problems involved in obtaining scores for essays written by teacher candidates are addressed. The rating procedure assures that each essay is read by three raters specially trained for the task. Ratings range from "1" for incompetent or unacceptable to "4" for outstanding. The score assigned to each essay will be the…

The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) is an instructional program designed to ensure that all college students in Texas have the reading, math and writing skills necessary to perform effectively in college courses. One component of the TASP is a diagnostic test of reading, math and writing skills. Answers to the following questions about the…

The writing examination package is divided into three volumes: Examination Handbook (present volume), Training Manual, and a Ratings Manual. The volumes are interdependent, and all three must be understood before using the Training Manual to train raters. The Examination Handbook provides a context for the other two volumes. It gives a general…

This report provides a method for determining minimum score by vocational program based on the use of the Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE). The SLE has been demonstrated to be a highly accurate and reliable measure of adult cognitive ability. It is currently in use as an admissions test at many career colleges and trade schools. The SLE test…

This paper describes social problems that ethnic minorities are likely to experience in the 1980s and presents guidelines for shaping educational policies and programs that will help ethnic minority youths to experience more educational equity during the remainder of the decade. The minority groups discussed are those that are heavily concentrated…

A survey of the literature on the issues and problems related to the preparation and survival of black public school teachers in the United States resulted in findings and recommendations in five areas. The first area considers literature on the underrepresentation of black teachers in public schools, studies on pupil/teacher ratios, expanded…