The National Education Association's Task Force on Testing has stated its opinion that standardized tests are overused. The task force suggests that the application of sampling techniques and a variety of alternatives to current testing practices would accomplish the same purposes. Representatives of the testing industry have indicated that the…

APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF THE METROPOLITAN READING TEST WERE ADMINISTERED CITYWIDE IN OCTOBER, 1965, AND MAY, 1966, TO PUPILS IN GRADES 2 THROUGH 9 IN AN EFFORT BY THE NEW YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM TO IMPROVE READING. THE RESULTS ARE PRESENTED IN TABLES WHICH SHOW THE DISTRIBUTION OF READING ACHIEVEMENT SCORES IN EACH GRADE. THE IOWA TESTS OF BASIC SKILLS IN…

A review of the work of an affective sub-committee of the Nucleus Testing Committee is provided. Proposed recommendations of the sub-committee are that: (1) the committee as a group identify an important question in the affective domain and design a testing project by which to gather data to answer the question; (2) a set of guidelines for the use…

The study was designed to develop a greater understanding of how test preparation practices/activities have changed in a state with an established testing program that has recently begun to use test scores for school-level accountability purposes. Teachers within 24 public high schools completed a questionnaire related to the use of test…

The authors describe a project which explores the potential of video tape presentations as a substitute for the standard paper-and-pencil test format in the hope that the "videotape presentation might open new prospects for truly 'equalizing' testing." (Authors/AK)

A description is proved of guidelines for physical fitness testing of older adults and procedures for administering the functional fitness test battery created by the AAHPERD Fitness Task Force. (IAH)

This dissertation examined perceptions of superintendents, principals and teachers about South Carolina's Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test or the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards testing program. A systemic sample of 729 superintendents, principals, and teachers were selected to participate in the study. A survey was emailed to the…

This paper focuses on item design considerations faced by instructional designers and evaluators when using computer videodisc delivery systems as a means of assessing learner comprehension and competencies. Media characteristics of various interactive computer/videodisc training systems are briefly discussed as well as reasons for using such…

Barbara Jordan served as the hearing officer for three-day adversary evaluation hearings about the pros and cons of minimum competency testing (MCT). This report is the complete transcript of the second day of proceedings. The pro team, lead by James Popham, began by presenting representatives of four states (Florida, California, Texas, and…

Some insights into the development of an eleventh grade test of "adult functional competency" are provided. The evolution of the test from its first mention to its translation into a test item pool is traced. An attempt is made to identify some of the instructional, measurement, and legal implications inherent in various decisions which…

The statistical parallelism of a pair of tests equated by the P-value method was investigated, as well as the relationship between their raw scores and scores transformed by linear equating. Data were obtained from eight sections of the 1980 New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Program; specifically, the reading and mathematics tests for each of grades…

School testing programs in many cases have been limited to obtaining an IQ score and achievement scores in reading and mathematics for each student. Testing in the U.S. Department of Defense Overseas Dependents Schools followed this pattern and was under attack from many sides. Consequently, the testing program was suspended in 1971 to provide…

The history and development of city-wide testing programs in Chicago since 1936 are reviewed and placed in context with the impact on testing of Sputnik and the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. Current testing problems include the time lag between events and curricular changes and new test construction, the time lag between…

Most standardized testing programs do not furnish examples of the kinds of information young people actually know. Instead they indicate only (1) how far an individual student is above or below an average score, and (2) the average score of a classroom or a school in relation to others. In contrast, National Assessment evaluates educational…

An outcome of the excellence movement has been an increase in state control of education, especially through state-mandated testing, as testing has become the preferred means of trying to effect change in education following the popularity of accountability and minimum competency testing. Suggestions for using tests prudently are listed. (DCS)