In "Holding Accountability to Account: How Scholarship and Experience in Other Fields Inform Exploration of Performance Incentives in Education"--a paper presented at the National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference in February--Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, argues educational…

Background: In this article we address some of the challenges posed by the development of national assessment systems and discuss the need for high quality information on trends in attainment; support for school improvement processes and ways in which learning should be enhanced through valid assessment. Purpose: Key elements are explored,…

The University entrance examination (PAU) is the most important high-stakes exam in the General educational system in Spain. It has 6 sections of which the Foreign Language one is very relevant to the final score. The English section has had almost not significant changes in the last 20 years despite all the research in language learning and…

Computer-based assessments are becoming more commonplace, perhaps as a necessity for faculty to cope with large class sizes. These tests often occur in large computer testing venues in which test security may be compromised. In an attempt to limit the likelihood of cheating in such venues, randomised presentation of items is automatically…

Comparison of student test scores between states, school districts, and even schools continues to be a popular measure of student achievement. However, these comparisons reveal little about the quality or effectiveness of educational programs, only the varying difficulty of educating different populations of students. This report uses U.S. Census…

WORKSHEETS FROM AN AUTO-INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM IN HIGH SCHOOL ALGEBRA WERE USED TO COMPARE DATA PROCESSING METHODS. IN THE SCRIBE SYSTEM, WORKSHEET DATA IS TRANSFERRED FIRST ONTO SPECIAL SHEETS REQUIRING RECORDING OF ERRORS AND OMISSIONS ONLY, AND THEN ONTO IBM CARDS. THE IBM CARDS CAN BE USED IN A SPECIAL IBM 1620 ITEM DIFFICULTY ANALYSIS PROGRAM.…

Experience in evaluating responses to poetry in the Advanced Placement Examination can offer guidelines for the effective testing of students on poetry without reducing their interest in the art. For advanced secondary or first-year college students, teachers should avoid approaches and tests that are concerned with (1) extraneous biographical,…

One solution to the problem of obtaining test scores in order to assess multiple outcomes of educational programs is a basically simple technique called matrix sampling. Matrix sampling is the estimation of total test score statistics by administering random subsets of test items to randomly selected students. This chapter lays out the specific…

The purpose of this study was to improve the evaluation proficiencies of high school distributive education teachers in Virginia. A special conference for selected high school distributive education teachers provided instruction in the preparation of evaluation units and actual construction of such units in selected areas. An evaluation of the…

Most standardized testing programs do not furnish examples of the kinds of information young people actually know. Instead they indicate only (1) how far an individual student is above or below an average score, and (2) the average score of a classroom or a school in relation to others. In contrast, National Assessment evaluates educational…

This booklet was developed to help teachers evaluate student courses. It is not intended to provide the basis for a total evaluation, but as a "quick and easy" method to describe the basis of awarding student grades; identify ways in which to evaluate the effectiveness of a course of study; analyze the cognitive levels of test items; list the real…

A new variant of the standard method for estimating the accuracy of educational tests is examined. It is found that the estimates produced by the new method are essentially unbiased and that the typical sizes of the errors of the estimates approach their theoretical lower limit as size increases, though they are still noticably above it for small…

The history of the development of National Assessment exercises from the project's inception in 1964 to the present is provided in this monograph. The chapter titles are as follows: I. Introduction; II. Rationale and Criteria for Writing Exercises for National Assessment; III. Initial Reviews; IV. Initial Studies; V. Subject Matter Reviews; VI.…

The techniques of individualizing instruction are discussed with respect to two individualized science programs, used in grades K-8 and 7-9. Both programs use self-testing and self-evaluation. (CTM)