Instructional management systems for use in monitoring student achievements in specified skill areas and the use of these data for compensatory education program evaluation are a relatively new phenomenon in the field of education. The replication of an instructional management system is reviewed in three settings: (1) a consortia of four…

In studies of classroom behavior modification, the experimenter or educator attempts to make valid judgments about desirable behavioral outcomes. Instruments of assessment to be used with behavior modification treatments must be sensitive to the behavioral goals of principals, teachers, and public school officials. Moreover the treatments used in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of the Rasch test analysis model for providing consistent scale statistics between content-referenced and norm-referenced tests across school districts. A number of content-referenced tests were created to assess student performance relative to basic skills goals identified in reading and…

The Stull Act (after its principal sponsor, Assemblyman John Stull) requires all school districts in California to adopt a uniform set of guidelines for use in evaluating the professional competence of their certificated personnel. The act went into effect on September 1, 1972. In the spring of 1972, it became apparent from newspaper articles that…

A general model was built for assessing important complex educational goals. Literature on performance tests, process goals, and verbal protocols were critically examined. Advantages of these methodologies were incorporated into the model which was tested in an individualized mathematics inquiry laboratory which used whole-task approach. Five…

The nature and common uses of standardized achievement tests are described and placed in context in order to evaluate claims and criticisms that are commonly made. Tests are described as samples of behavior and hence subject to sampling errors. Much of the debate is dominated by emotion and prejudices. There is very little empirical evidence about…

Although it is difficult both to determine educational goals and to measure goal attainment, the Educational Quality Assessment Inventory (EQAI) has ambitiously tackled both problems. During a five-year period 45 separate instruments containing over 2000 items were constructed, revised, rejected, and accepted in preparation for the present…

The Secondary Form of the Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory is designed for 11th grade students in Commonwealth public schools. Test scales are designed to measure some facet of state quality assessment goals. Along with basic skills, the various instruments examine: (1) social and health habits, (2) feelings toward self and others,…

This material provides a discussion of the construction and analysis of tests prepared for classroom use by teachers. The initial discussion is concerned with the purposes of evaluation and the specification of objectives. This is followed by an examination of theoretical and practical considerations in planning a test. The material on test item…

Three approaches to the construction of achievement tests are compared: construct, operational, and empirical. The construct approach is based upon classical test theory and measures an abstract representation of the instructional objectives. The operational approach specifies instructional intent through instructional objectives, facet design,…

This chapter should not only acquaint the reader with the present state of the art on Criterion-Referenced (CR) measurement but also suggest possible directions for further inquiry. The goal of the first part of this chapter is to deal with the definitional dilemma of CR measurement by proceeding from the more traditional view of CR measurement to…