Describes the comparative approach to system evaluation used in a project which administered an online retrieval test to an experimental online catalog to produce data for evaluating effectiveness of a new subject access design. Discusses efforts used to ensure data reliability, and strategies the researchers can use to improve on the data…

Three study cohorts involving 199 gifted fifth graders, 190 gifted sixth graders, and 683 typical sixth graders were used to construct, validate, and pilot a computerized adaptive math test for placing fifth graders in a middle school mathematics gifted program. Results suggest the adaptive test has potential for talent identification. (Author/CR)

Consistent with person-centered planning, a video CD-ROM program was used to help youth with disabilities identify job preferences. The program was administered to 56 participants (ages 14-22) at 60-day intervals. Results indicated that selections of general work conditions were highly consistent, whereas selections of specific job choices were…

Nineteen learning-disabled and 10 emotionally disturbed pupils, aged 8-15, were assigned randomly to computer-assisted curriculum-based measurement (CBM), pen and paper CBM, and contrast groups. CBM students exhibited more specific knowledge of their spelling goals and felt they received more frequent and more graphic displays of performance…

Analysis of patterns in time (APT) is presented as a method for gathering information about observable phenomena so that probabilities of temporal patterns of events can be estimated empirically. APT is illustrated through a classroom study of 25 mentally handicapped students and in a study of 2 computer-based tests. (SLD)

Shares some lessons learned from performance-based assessment in the health professions, using four performance-based assessment methods as examples: (1) written clinical simulations (patient-management problems); (2) computer-based clinical simulations; (3) oral examinations; and (4) standardized patients (live simulations). (SLD)

Describes the workings of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Focuses on the key concept of information and then discusses two important components of a CAT system: the calibrated item bank and the testing algorithm. Describes a CAT that was designed for making placement decisions on the basis of two typical test administrations and notes the…

Over the last 20 years, writing about technology (and more recently about its use in assessment systems) has been a joyful experience, in part because the author was usually right about how fast and how unexpected technology progress would be made. In this article, the author suggests to rethink assessment systems from design perspectives and the…

Developed jointly by OECD member countries through the OECD's Directorate for Education, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) aims to measure how far students approaching the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in the knowledge society. The assessment is…

To assess own actions and define individual learning needs is fundamental for professional development. The development of self-assessment skills requires practice and feedback during the course of studies. The "Interactive Examination" is a methodology aiming to assist students developing their self-assessment skills. The present study…

Many researchers have investigated the effects of students' prior knowledge upon learning chemistry, for example, the tenacity of alternative conceptions. Knowledge about learning also shapes students' learning of chemistry. This research describes the development of CHEMX, a survey instrument that measures an aspect of knowledge about learning…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) focuses on improving public personnel assessment in such fields as selection and performance evaluation. Author-generated summaries/outlines of papers presented at the IPMAAC's 1983 conference are provided. The presidential address is "Is There a Future for Test…

This report discussed the following questions in regard to testing, measurement and evaluation in the Indiana public schools: (1) Where are we? (2) Is "where we are" different from where we perceive we should be? (3) Do teachers feel competent in testing? (4) How are teachers' skills viewed by their "superiors," the central…

Recent increases in the speed and accessibility of computers and networks have made it possible to administer tests on-line. On-line assessment can be conducted in a controlled setting, such as a testing center, or distributed over local area networks or the Internet to libraries and student homes, allowing students the flexibility to complete…

Describes an expert system designed to simplify evaluation of teacher-authored high school matriculation examination forms for official recognition. Because conventional knowledge-engineering methods were inadequate, a learning-by-example model called the Ordinal Learning Model was utilized. Responses from the system's users during a two-year beta…