This review explores the significant contributions of Rasch modeling in enhancing classroom assessment practices, particularly in measuring student attitudes. Classroom assessment has evolved from standardized testing to integrative practices that emphasize both academic and affective dimensions of student development. Accurate attitude…

Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) is a computer-based international English language test. Pearson developed PTE Academic in response to demand from higher education, governments, and other customers for a test that could more accurately measure the English communication skills of international students in an academic environment.…

Research Findings: Universal screening practices that utilize reliable and valid screening measures are vital for identifying social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) concerns for students at-risk for future behavioral and academic difficulties. Screening procedures implemented at the start of kindergarten can result in early identification and…

The International Test Commission's "Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests" (2010) provide important guidance on developing and evaluating tests for use across languages. These guidelines are widely applauded, but the degree to which they are followed in practice is unknown. The objective of this study was to perform a…

The author traces reasons to support his contention that the state of the art in assessing learning disabled students is not good. Among issues examined are the following: use of tests for purposes other than those for which they were intended; technical adequacy of currently used tests (standardization, reliability, validity); the use of deficit…

Fair, valid, and reliable measurement of dependent variables is a concern in personnel evaluation studies. Performance tests, that is, job or work sample tests, situational tests, and job learning or trainability tests, are being used with increasing frequency as measurement techniques capable of meeting these needs. The three categories of…

The implications of standardized testing for minority students are explored. Test terminology is described in terms of objectivity, standardization, reliability, and validity. Primarily, however, the paper reviews the objectivity of standardized testing, that is, of those tests which are either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. The use of…

Arguments against competency testing surface continually, and classic counter-arguments reoccur. Nevertheless, minimum competency testing and other accountability efforts have much public support. Those claiming that the tests are not relevant or do not have predictive validity, also say they are coachable and biased. Answers are given to these…

This booklet is intended to help school personnel, parents, students, and members of the community understand concepts and research relating to achievement testing in public schools. The paper's sections include: (1) test use with direct effects on students (test of certification, selection, and placement); (2) test use with indirect effects on…

This paper analyzes research findings about the role of values and beliefs in aptitude testing. Indications are found that the ongoing controversy over the lack of ethnic, racial, and sex fairness in aptitude testing is rooted in the tests themselves. Test designers, it is argued, are influenced by their socioeconomic position (they are usually…

The monograph examines the provisions of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) regarding nondiscriminatory evaluation of handicapped students. (CL)

For the most part, standardized tests are verbal and presuppose that the test takers know the language, culture, and values of the test makers, who usually represent white, middle class language and values. The communication problems that minority groups face when taking standardized tests include phonological biases (especially when the tests are…

The performance of disabled and non-disabled students on college admissions test were compared. Performance of learning disabled and hearing impaired students appears most discrepant from the norm. Evidence relating to validity and reliability of admissions tests for handicapped and nondisabled examinees suggests no dependable differences in…

Focusing on the problems of validity and representativeness of samples, a study examined the history of literacy in the United States since 1880 in order to set the contemporary debate on test scores, literacy and reading performance in the longer-range perspective of the last 100 years. The quality of the data and the arguments of literacy…

Although frequently attacked as invalid, demeaning, biased, illegal, and irrelevant, preemployment testing procedures appear to be increasing in popularity. Many prominent companies and organizations are making extensive use of tests. Part of the resurgence of testing is attributable to clearer definitions of acceptable practice. Legal precedents…