Educational testing has been criticized for its disconnect from modern cognitive science and its limited role in improving instruction and student learning. Reform efforts emphasize the need for testing to provide specific diagnostic insights into students' skills and knowledge. Cognitive diagnosis (CD), an emerging paradigm in educational…

This paper presents a framework to provide a structured approach for developing score reports for cognitive diagnostic assessments ("CDAs"). Guidelines for reporting and presenting diagnostic scores are based on a review of current educational test score reporting practices and literature from the area of information design. A sample diagnostic…

Traditional comparisons of test score means identify group differences in broad academic areas, but fail to provide substantive description of how the groups differ on the specific cognitive attributes required for success in the academic area. The rule space method (RSM) allows for group comparisons at the cognitive attribute level, which…

Placement exams are high-stakes assessments that determine many students' college trajectories. More than half of entering students at community colleges are placed into developmental education in at least one subject, based primarily on scores from these assessments, yet recent research fails to find evidence that placement into remediation…

Given the relatively high intercorrelations observed between mathematics achievement, reading achievement, and cognitive ability, it has recently been claimed that student assessment studies (e.g., TIMSS, PISA) and intelligence tests measure a single cognitive ability that is practically identical to general intelligence. The present article uses…

This study examines whether MidYIS and YELLIS cognitive ability tests (CATs) are appropriate methods for the identification of giftedness in Design and Technology. A key rationale for the study was whether CATs and able to identify those students with the aptitudes considered of importance to identifying giftedness in Design and Technology and…

New curricula in the social studies requires new procedures in student evaluation. (NI)

Some of the results of the first-round testing in science of the National Assessment of Educational Progress are mentioned. (DT) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Overview).

The advantages of interim tests in an undergraduate psychology course for diagnostic purposes are described. A discussion of assigning relative weight to interim test performance as compared with final examination performance is presented. (Author/DB)

This paper defines Bayesian network models and examines their applications to IRT-based cognitive diagnostic modeling. These models are especially suited to building inference engines designed to be synchronous with the finer grained student models that arise in skills diagnostic assessment. Aspects of the theory and use of Bayesian network models…

This 126-item test, the Learning Style Profile, was designed to assess 23 scales involving learners' cognitive skills, as well as emotional and environmental study preferences such as noise and temperature. It contains both verbal and pictorial items. The test was designed for sixth- through twelfth-grade students and has a readability level…

Discusses the criterion referenced test and focuses on such questions as What is it? What are the advantages to be gained from a performance-based curriculum and criterion reference evaluation procedures? What are the disadvantages? The Science - A Process Approach program is identified as the most complete and tested example of the use of…

A modification of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts for use with pre-kindergarten children is presented. Guidelines for administration, age norms and information on reliability and validity are provided. (Author)

The study was designed to answer two questions: (1) What cognitive skills are emphasized by written test items constructed by eighth grade science teachers in the public schools of Louisiana? and (2) Are there differences of emphasis on the cognitive skills when comparisons are made among test questions from those teachers based on the following…

Discusses issues involved in the construction, validity, and use of tests that evaluate educational progress, especially those that assess higher-order cognitive functioning. Reviews the four articles in this special issue. (FMW)