As an alternative for or adjunct to paper-and-pencil tests for predicting personnel performance, the United States Air Force studied the use of peer ratings as an evaluative tool. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of peer ratings among Air Force basic trainees. Peer ratings were obtained from more than 27,000…

This publication presents the reports from two studies, Math Online (MOL) and Writing Online (WOL), part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Technology-Based Assessment (TBA) project. Funded by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Technology-Based Assessment project is intended to explore the use of new…

This investigation of the comparability of writing assessment prompts was conducted in two phases. In an exploratory Phase I, 47 writing prompts administered in the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM] (TOEFL[R] CBT) from July through December 1998 were examined. Logistic regression procedures were used to estimate prompt…

This report presents results of the NAEP 2003 fourth- and eighth-grade reading assessments for the nation, for regions of the country, for participating states and other jurisdictions, and for participating urban districts. Assessment results are described in terms of students' average reading score on a 0-500 scale and in terms of the percentage…

In the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is administered to all third grade students each year. The ITBS, which is one of the assessments used as a screening tool for the Academically Gifted Program, was given to approximately 7,700 third graders in 2000. The ITBS can be given as a…

Multidimensionality is known to affect the accuracy of item parameter and ability estimations, which subsequently influences the computation of item characteristic curves (ICCs) and true scores. By judiciously combining sections of a Law School Admission Test (LSAT), 11 sections of varying degrees of uni- and multidimensional structures are used…

The results in this report, from the fifth administration of the grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 reading, mathematics, and writing portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP), represent an important step in Delawares efforts to educate all students to a higher level. Reading, mathematics, and writing data for grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 are…

This report is the product of the first year of study of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) Study on exploring data and methods to assess and understand the performance of states participating in the SSI. The report describes three sets of studies. The first studied valid and reliable measures of student achievement, and how to combine…

With the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the context for NAEP participation is changing. Whereas in the past participation in NAEP has always been voluntary, participation is now mandatory for some grade and subjects among schools receiving Title I funds. While this will certainly raise school-level participation rates in the mandated…

The purpose of this simulation was to assess the improvements in estimates of standard errors that could be expected if students participating in NAEP were pre-assigned to test booklets that were adapted to their level of performance based on their state assessment scores. Students in extreme quartiles would receive one regular NAEP block and…

This document reviews several theoretical frameworks of problem-solving, provides a definition of the construct, suggests ways of measuring the construct, focuses on issues for assessment, and provides specifications for the computer-based assessment of problem solving. As defined in the model of the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards,…

This document contains the results of a standard setting conducted between August 2 and August 12, 1999, on the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) Mathematics, Reading, and Writing subtests at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. At the standard setting, judges were asked to recommend only the cut point between "Below the Standard" and…

This report contains results of Arizona's Instrument To Measure Standards, administered in grade 10 in Spring 1999 and reported in an updated version in this report of March 2000. For each high school, the following information is provided: (1) number of students in the summary; (2) the mean scale score; (3) the median score; and (4) the percent…

This document presents school and district information on the spring 2000 administration of the Arizona Instrument To Measure Standards (AIMS) organized by grade and alphabetically by district and school. Grade level is noted at the top of each page. AIMS scores for each subject are organized in columns under each subject area heading. Information…

In 1998 the Wake County Public School System adopted a goal of having 95% of all students tested at or above grade levels as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) tests by 2003. This bulletin reports progress toward that goal. Analysis of the EOG test results for 1999-2000 show that scores on all four tests targeted by the 2003 goal…