This article proposes that sampling design effects have potentially huge unrecognized impacts on the results reported by large-scale district and state assessments in the United States. When design effects are unrecognized and unaccounted for they lead to underestimating the sampling error in item and test statistics. Underestimating the sampling…

The Arizona Tax Research Association analyzed the Arizona Teacher Proficiency Examination (ATPE). An item analysis of the 150 questions administered to 2,430 applicants from July 1982 through March 1983 was undertaken. A minimum point biserial correlation coefficient of .33 indicated the validity of an item. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the…

This study examined the construct validity of the subtests in the California Entry Level Test (ELT). The ELT is administered to every first grade pupil in California as part of the California Assessment Program and is used as a baseline measure of the prereading skills of beginning first graders. The discriminant validity of the subtests was…

State Departments of Education are turning to the use of criterion referenced, as opposed to norm referenced, models for statewide assessment. The underlying assumption in this turn of events is that results generated by criterion referenced tests within the statewide assessment context permit the drawing of value inferences about the…

The National Teacher Examination (NTE) validation and cut score determination procedures for use in teacher certification in Arkansas are discussed. The NTE area examinations to be validated were selected by the Arkansas Department of Education, which compared the state's certification requirements with the NTE's rationale, content, and scope…

A project was conducted to develop vocational education tests for use in Georgia secondary schools, specifically for welding, machine shop, and sheet metal courses. The project team developed an outline of an assessment model that included the following components: (1) select a program for use in developing test items; (2) verify duties, tasks,…

The objectives of this study were twofold: first, to develop an improved version of the instruments used to measure Goal IV (Attitude Toward School and School Learning) at the fifth and eleventh grade levels in the public schools of Pennsylvania under a program of "Educational Quality Assessment" mandated by the legislature. Secondly, it was the…

The Alberta High School Social Studies Achievement Tests are described in terms of the procedures used for test construction and analysis of the norming data. The test construction is explained according to a model for the values clarification process in the social studies, and the evaluation models appropriate for assessing the values…

The validity, reliability, and item characteristics of the Maine Real Estate Licensure Examination were investigated. Its validity was based on its construction; a task analysis was performed on real estate broker and salesperson jobs, items were written by trained personnel; and the test was reviewed by a panel of experts. Differences in scores…

The 1973-74 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) provided information on twenty-two separate measures of interest to educators. The program provides for measures of (1) word relationships, (2) mathematics, (3) reading and (4) attitudes (optional). In contrast to past programs, the mathematics and reading instruments are…

Steps involved in the item analysis and scaling of the 1990 edition of Forms A and B of the Nevada High School Proficiency Examinations (NHSPEs) are described. Pilot tests of Forms A and B of the 47-item reading and 45-item mathematics tests were each administered to random samples of more than 600 eleventh-grade students. A computer program was…

The results are presented of the validation study of reading and mathematics criterion referenced tests, administered to South Carolina students in grades 3, 6, and 8. This testing was mandated by state law to field test a competency based assessment program. The study was based on three activities: (1) test selection; (2) content validation; and…