An item discriminability study of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Language Skills tests identified test items that are robust discriminators, psychometrically capable of separating low scorers from higher scorers in the language tests battery. The analysis was conducted by calculating a point-biserial correlation for each item on the four language…

The preparation and use of an objective strength analysis report (OSAR) from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) are described. The OSAR was designed to answer two needs: (1) a format which allows the school to easily answer the question "which reading objectives need more emphasis and/or better materials or techniques in order to raise its…

This paper describes the development of the Basic Educational Skills Test (BEST) in the Austin Independent School District. In 1982 future options for the AISD minimum competency program, which requires all students to meet minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics before graduation, were evaluated against legal and local criteria. It…

Multiple-choice standardized achievement tests of English vocabulary and reading comprehension and of mathematics were administered to samples of 592 grade eight students and 615 grade five students. Two forms of each test unit were prepared. The control groups took forms containing items with four responses, while the experimental groups took…

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were administered to over 600 black and white students in grades six through nine, to determine if the test showed bias against minorities. Outliers were identified from test results. Outliers are items which differ from the central core of test items because they fall outside the range expected from a random…