Presents a brief discussion of the use and misuse of psychometric tests as well as discriminatory practices. Presents a case of freedom of choice. Discusses the need for further research with particular emphasis on program evaluation. (RS)

This Critical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet focuses on assessment. Assessment has been a major trend in higher education over the last 10 years, with the nature of the literature changing significantly over the years. This annotated bibliography groups assessment resources into these categories: (1) general resources; (2) institutional…

A procedure for testing the ability of dental students to detect presence and depth of dental caries was evaluated. Students (n=40) from four experience groups examined radiographs obtained from a model. Results indicated that this method of assessing student competence in radiographic interpretation is valid. (MSE)

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville conducted a system-wide effort to increase use of student outcome information in assessing and improving academic programs. For this effort, the university received the National Council on Measurement in Education award for an outstanding example of an application of educational measurement technology. (EGS)

Criteria are presented for determining whether licensure and/or achievement test results should be used for making various types of comparisons and judgments about medical education programs. The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and National Board of Medical Examiners tests (NBME) are then considered as data sources. (Author/MSE)

This paper explores what a responsible test developer would do to support the consequential validity of a test early in the development process, and how the consequential validity of the program should be monitored and addressed during the life of the program. To illustrate the issues concretely, the validity of the American College Testing…

General information about Steps 1 and 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) are offered to support proper use of the results for three general, nonlicensure applications: (1) evaluation of academic achievement; (2) program evaluation; and (3) selection for residencies. (Author/MSE)

The oral proficiency interview, a one-to-one conversational interview structured to elicit the best performance the student can sustain, is based on a scale and test developed 30 years ago by the Foreign Service Institute. Interest in it has increased substantially in recent years, and further research and development of the measure for use in a…

Several federal legislative proposals have called for specified minimum pass rates on state teacher licensing examinations to establish institutional eligibility for certain federal funding. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia will use The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers developed by the Educational…

The use of test results as a criterion for evaluating the design of an intensive English language program is examined in one Canadian university program in Indonesia. The study was investigating whether: (1) realistic estimates of training needs were being made; (2) data from other tests would enable better prediction of student outcomes, and…

The DATAWave is a bi-weekly publication of the Assessment Resource Office (ARO) at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). Its purpose is to inform the campus community and broader constituencies on assessment issues and practices at ENMU. The seven issues of winter and spring 1996 cover the following topics: (1) a preview of ARO activities,…

The "Survey of Undergraduate Alumni" and the "Survey of Graduate Alumni" for the Department of Health Education at San Francisco State University (California) were developed and evaluated. The surveys were intended to measure alumni satisfaction with the programs in health education. Using a modified Delphi technique, a group…

The ways in which a rating scale developed for problem-based medical curricula provides information that is useful in the area of curriculum reform were demonstrated in a study involving 95 first-year medical students at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec (Canada). The rating scale, based on the theory of problem-based learning of W. H.…

Testing program directors from approximately 100 randomly selected school districts in Ohio reported their perceptions of the testing competencies most needed to successfully manage their standardized testing programs and of the perceived value of their university training in developing these competencies. It was found that competencies associated…

The Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST), was developed at Educational Testing Service at the request of the National Teachers Examination Policy Council. The battery of three tests is designed to provide objective, standardized measures of basic proficiency in reading, mathematics, and writing. The steps in the test development process of this…