This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

Examined assessment practices in 54 model programs for early education of handicapped children (ages prenatal through six years). Results showed only 19 tests were used by at least five programs; only one device was used by over one-half. Although technical adequacy was reportedly an important factor in selection, analysis revealed only three…

The College and University Classroom Environment Inventory, a college seminar dynamics measurement instrument based on earlier research on assessment of elementary and secondary classroom environmental characteristics, is described. Its testing and initial applications in research on student outcomes and teacher and student preferences of…

An oral language test administered at the end of a four-year program combining business administration and French is described. The test consists of the formal presentation of a report including numbers, graphics, and text, a discussion of a theoretical issue, and interview. (MSE)

A sample (N=37) of currently published achievement tests was surveyed as to the availability of five types of technical data: (1) item selection techniques; (2) standardization; (3) types of norms; (4) types of validating data; and (5) types of reliability data. Recommendations for publishers and cautions for test users are given. (BS)

Chinese University of Hong Kong students (n=844) each rated a "good" teacher and a "poor" teacher using a Chinese translation of the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) instrument. Good teachers were rated more favorably than poor teachers on all SEEQ scales, all SEEQ items were judged to be most important by at…

The movement to standardization and high-stakes testing has been driven by ideological and political concerns and has adversely affected teaching/learning, democratic discourse, and educational equity. Rural schools are hit harder because of geographic isolation and insufficient staff and resources. Testing used for purposes other than measuring…

Describes five propositions concerning classroom assessment. Uses propositions to review seven conference papers. Propositions refer to the following: nature of achievement; student information necessary to interpret assessments; tension between need to describe and need to praise; distinction between formal and informal assessment; and need for…

The nature of admissions tests and their intended uses are reviewed. Evidence regarding the validity of tests, their contributions to admissions decisions, the effects of coaching, and possible bias in the predictive meaning of test scores for women and minorities are discussed. (Author/SLD)

Presents data that establish the convergent and discriminant construct validity of a new behavior-rating scale for use with the early childhood-preschool population, the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS). The scale appears to show promise as a research tool, screening device, and assessment instrument for assessing social-emotional…

The Test of Reactions and Adaptation in College (TRAC), a measure of students' personal dispositions toward learning, is presented. Results from 2 different samples of college students (n=1,081) indicate acceptable psychometric characteristics for the TRAC. The TRAC predicted college success better than high school weighted academic average did.…

A broad description is given of admissions procedures to Israeli universities. In Israel, a single unified test, the Psychometric Entrance Test, is used for admission to the various universities. Issues of validity and reliability and problems of ensuring fairness for non-Hebrew speakers are considered. (SLD)

The seven chapters of this issue focus on technical qualities of performance assessments and report the findings of systematic empirical inquiries. They add to the body of research that shows that performance assessment, although time consuming and expensive, merits the serious attention of educators. (SLD)

The most fundamental technical quality issue raised by proposals for a national examination system is that of validity. Types of evidence needed to judge the validity of test use and the interpretation of results are discussed, and examination content, fairness, impact, generalizability, and comparability are explored. (SLD)

Discusses how recent court decisions and the move toward performance assessment may affect the adverse impact, reliability, validity, and pass-fail standards of teacher-certification tests. Recommendations are made for tests that combine multiple-choice items with open-ended tasks. (SLD)