The degree to which performance assessments meet their dual mandate to evaluate student learning and inform instructional practice is not adequately addressed through traditional concerns for reliability and validity. A possible approach is suggested for examining the cognitive activity students engage in during a performance assessment. The…

In the past decade, there have been ample interests in the assessment of cognitive and affective processes and products for the purposes of meaningful learning. Meaningful measurement (MM) has been proposed which is in accordance with a humanistic constructivist information-processing perspective. Students' responses to the assessment tasks are…

This booklet has been written to help persons interested in assessment of education and training programs in general and competency-based vocational education programs in particular. The following topics are covered in the individual sections: the meaning of the term "assessment"; the importance of assessment; curriculum models; percentages and…

This packet contains a manual and a workbook for developing performance tests in vocational education. The manual gives an in-depth description of how to develop, score, and use performance tests. It includes the following sections: definitions of performance testing, steps in developing a performance test, selecting a performance development…

In this paper, performance assessments are cast within a sampling framework. A performance assessment score is viewed as a sample of student performance drawn from a complex universe defined by a combination of all possible tasks, occasions, raters, and measurement methods. Using generalizability theory, the authors present evidence bearing on the…

The validity and reliability of the Yugoslavian (Beograd) version of the Hungarian adaptation of the Torrance Divergent Capacities Test (HAT-DAT) were tested, with a view toward improving the methodology of scoring the creative abilities test and determining standards for Yugoslavia. The test, based on the work of J. P. Guilford (1977), examines…

These papers were presented as a symposium on the revision of the general education program at the University of Montevallo (UM) in Alabama. The first paper, "Introduction to Evaluation of General Education at the University of Montevallo," by Patricia S. Ernest and Elizabeth H. Rodgers, describes the core curriculum study and the 13…

The bibliography is intended to provide practitioners in early intervention programs with information about self-report (by parents) measures as they relate to evaluating family outcomes. Twenty-five measures are described in terms of content, format, reliability, and validity. Sources for obtaining the measures are also identified. Instruments…

The process of revising and validating two English language tests used by the United States armed forces in hiring foreign nationals overseas is described. Development of the item banks and classification of items are outlined, and field testing in the United States and overseas is described. The tests were the basic and intermediate level…

A 5-item rating scale was developed for the New York City schools to determine eligibility for English as a Second Language instruction in Category C exceptional students exempted from testing. Most students follow a curriculum of daily living skills, and many are nonverbal. The test was piloted with 163 students including severely, trainable, and…

Three questions concerning the Binary Search Method (BSM) of computerized adaptive testing were studied: (1) whether it provided a reliable and valid estimation of examinee ability; (2) its effect on examinee attitudes toward computerized adaptive testing and conventional paper-and-pencil testing; and (3) the relationship between item response…

This guide begins with a series of questions and answers that introduce Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory as a 188- to 190-item multiple-choice test for grades 5, 8, and 11. Items are selected from a 400-item bank using matrix sampling procedures. Test results are analyzed at the school level; no individual student…

The scores of handicapped students taking tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the Graduate Record Examinations are flagged so that admissions officers will be aware that they were achieved under special circumstances. A series of studies was initiated to determine whether special administrations of such tests are comparable to…

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 Head Start Measures Project was a 3-year study to develop a set of measures designed specifically for Head Start children. The measures are based on a path-referenced approach to assessment, in which children's performance is described in terms of their position along paths of development. A path is defined as a sequence of skills within a…