Argues that tests should be used to improve instructional programs. Specific suggestions include the study of reports on test performance, item analysis on classroom tests, item analysis as a part of standardized test reports, use of diagnostic or inventory tests, and careful selection of test items. (PK)

This study describes the University of Connecticut's Program for Learning Disabled College Students psychoeducational evaluation process with its components for analysis of aptitude, information processing, and academic skill levels. The resulting report is used to assist students in planning a course of study and delineating support services…

In 1982-83, Riverside Unified School District (California) selected an achievement test to provide both norm- and criterion-referenced (dual objective) data for its achievement testing program. The test selection process was focused around eight evaluation aspects: prescreening of tests, content matching, instructional evaluation, processing…

Information regarding state minimum competency testing programs was requested from the 50 state departments of education in the United States in the spring of 1979. The following questions were asked: (1) Do you have a testing program? (2) If you do, what tests are being used? (3) Do you have a testing program in the planning stages? (4) Are there…

This paper describes the experience of the Clemson University (South Carolina) faculty in choosing and administering a commercially available standardized test to assess general education at that institution. The paper emphasizes the importance of faculty involvement in the assessment of general education and its impact on the success of the…

This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

The purpose of this part of the multimethod Head Start bilingual/bicultural curriculum evaluation (Juarez and Associates 1978), is to familiarize curriculum model developers with test and item analysis procedures used to select and recommend tests for evaluating curriculum models. Considerations and procedures (such as screening, and comparing and…

This edition covers the basics of screening used to identify which children may have learning problems or disabilities. It offers advice for selecting an appropriate screening instrument and for setting up a screening program. The book contains reviews of current developmental screens, plus an entirely new annotated bibliography. For the first…

This paper provides school personnel with a practical outline for selecting an appropriate standardized achievement battery by describing the test selection procedures developed by a large metropolitan school system. The system needed a new achievement test battery which would reflect recent curriculum changes and provide for grade level testing.…

Articles in this series on testing and evaluation specifically address the use of tests to assess and improve educational status; achievement test selection; and trend toward increased use of coaching materials to improve test performance. Professional literature on educational measurement is reviewed. (MBR)

The project reviewed, tested, and analyzed the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute's (NOCTI) test series (written and performance for skilled occupations), using a sample of 16 examinations, to determine their appropriateness for use by the State of Georgia in their selection and certification of vocational and technical educators.…

In this evaluation of The Latin American Literacy Project, eight major recommendations are made based on firsthand observations of the project, discussions with staff and students, the evaluation of new program implementations, the interpretation of results from language proficiency and achievement tests, and the analysis of extensive video…

The pattern toward an increase in the number of states using some form of competency testing prior to the certification of educators is substantiated in this paper. Competency testing programs are implemented at three distinct levels: (1) before entrance into a teacher education program near the end of the sophomore year in college; (2) at the end…

The aim of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program was to meet legislative requirements, to improve instruction and to integrate instructional sensitivity into the state's educational programs for grades K-12 in the basic skill areas of reading, writing and mathematics. In their task of identifying, compiling and revising educational…

This paper uses direct measures of literacy skill levels provided by the International Adult Literacy Survey to estimate the return to literacy skills. Using a very simple human capital earnings equation and standard ordinary least squares regression, it tested estimates of the return to literacy skills for their robustness to alternative scalings…