In recent years, readability formulas have gained new prominence as a basis for selecting texts for learning and assessment. Variables that quantitative tools count (e.g., word frequency, sentence length) provide valid measures of text complexity insofar as they accurately predict representative and high-quality criteria. The longstanding…

During the transition period between the use of exclusively old SAT® scores and the use of exclusively new SAT scores, college admission offices will be receiving both types of scores from students. Making an admission decision based on new SAT scores can be challenging at first because institutions have methods, procedures, and models based on…

Data from the ALEKS-based placement program at the University of Illinois is presented visually in several ways. The placement exam (an ALEKS assessment) contains precise item-specific information and the data show many interesting properties of the student populations of the placement courses, which include Precalculus, Calculus, and Business…

The GGUM2004 computer program estimates parameters for a family of unidimensional unfolding item response theory (IRT) models. These unfolding IRT models predict higher item scores to the extent that a respondent is located close to an item on an underlying latent continuum. This prediction is often consistent with responses to traditional…

As the rapidity with which medical knowledge is generated and disseminated becomes amplified, an increasing emphasis has been placed on the need for physicians to develop the skills necessary for life-long learning. One such skill is the ability to evaluate one's own deficiencies. A ubiquitous finding in the study of self-assessment, however, is…

The literature on validity provides much more guidance on how to collect various kinds of validity evidence than it does on which kinds of evidence to collect in specific cases. An argument-based approach to validation redresses the balance by linking the kinds of evidence needed to validate a test-score interpretation to the details of the…

Mounting pressure in the policy arena to improve teacher productivity either by improving signals that predict teacher performance or through creating incentive contracts based on performance--has spurred two related questions: Are there important determinants of teacher productivity that are not captured by teacher credentials but that can be…

During the 1985-86 school year, an evaluation plan utilizing standardized norm-referenced test information was initiated within the Wichita Public School System in Kansas. The plan had four identifiable factors: (1) a growth measurement concept; (2) a simplified computation process; (3) a means of integration of growth measurement within user…

Composite scores for 51 gifted children (ages 3-12) on the Stanford-Binet LM were found to be significantly higher than scores on the Stanford-Binet 4th Edition. Correlations between the LM total and 4th Edition area scores were significant. Results suggest that the 4th Edition composite score cut-off value for assessing giftedness may require…

The accuracy of predictions of future student performance on the basis of graphing data on semi-logarithmic charts and equal interval graphs was examined. All 83 low-achieving students in grades 3 to 6 read randomly-selected lists of words from the Harris-Jacobson Word List for 1 minute. The number of words read correctly and words read…

Normative data reported by publishers of the California Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, and the SRA Assessment Survey were used to illustrate a procedure for specifying goals for Title I programs in terms of normal curve equivalent (NCE) gains. The procedure was based on the amount of growth reflected in student reading…