The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) is a multiple aptitude battery designed to measure junior and senior high school students' and adults' ability to learn or succeed in certain areas. The test is suitable for group administration and is primarily for use in educational and vocational counseling, although it may be used in employee selection. The…

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…

This report deals with a variety of ways that have been, or could be, used to interpret the scales used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Policymakers, researchers, and other users of assessment results need to understand the methods used for reporting NAEP. Having a reference is particularly important as the methods of…

Various methods used to assess the content of a test are reviewed, and a new procedure designed to improve on these methods is presented. The two tests considered are a professional licensure examination, the auditing section of the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, and an educational achievement test, a nationally standardized…

This book presents the full array of assessment methods available to the classroom teacher in an interesting and engaging format, broadens the preservice and inservice teacher's understanding of related assessment issues, and places assessment in a meaningful context. The text, which was developed for an introductory course in classroom…

This report describes the aggregated reading and mathematics performances of students in years 5 and 7 in urban Northern Territory (Australia) schools on the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) tests. The aggregated results are encouraging, with apparent gains in some reading tests over the preceding year, and no evidence of decline in the others.…

This study illustrates how a factor analysis of a well-designed student-rating instrument can increase its utility. Factor analysis of a student-rating instrument was used to reveal constructs that would explain student attrition in science, mathematics, and engineering majors. The Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment (IDEA)…

The results are provided of a statewide content verification survey of "expert" educators designed to verify indicators in the 1989-90 System for Teaching and Learning Assessment and Review (STAR) as reasonable expectations for beginning and/or experienced teachers (BETs) in Louisiana and as providing professional endorsement at the…

A study conducted for the Tennessee State Department of Education by Memphis State University addressed two objectives with respect to the Professional School Service Personnel endorsements for initial licensure for non-teaching professional personnel: to determine the validity of the National Teacher Examination (NTE) Core Battery tests for…

A series of studies were conducted at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) to determine the relationship of basic skills assessment test scores, sex, and race to student success for the following groups of fall 1985 students: 229 developmental studies (Crossover Program); 501 associate degree level students; 66 business and graphic arts…

South Carolina's School Incentive Reward Program Program (SIRP) based on year-to-year gains in reading and mathematics achievement, which seemed to have face validity, was evaluated, particularly its use of the relative gains of students in only the highest grade in the school as the basis for the awards. When this requirement was relaxed so that…

The purpose of this paper, which is drawn from a larger analytic history of the National Teacher Evaluation (NTE) program, is to investigate issues of validity within the context of the program's 50-year history. Three major findings emerge from historical considerations relating to: (1) the continuity of test content and justification over the…

A study examined the way in which vocational and technical faculty and students perceive the effectiveness of French and Raven's five power bases. (To explain the way in which organizational control operates, French and Raven postulated the following five power bases: reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert power.) During the study,…

This study, focusing on 165 public elementary schools in Hawaii, examined the use of test scores as measures of curriculum effectiveness and identified context and input variables that may impact on these measures of effectiveness. Demographic characteristics and test data on approximately 12,000 third graders were used to obtain 165 school…

Comparative data and results of validation and standard-setting studies are presented for five subject-matter tests for teacher certification in two states. The five tests evaluated were available from the Educational Testing Service (ETS): one National Teacher Examination specialty area test (special education); and four tests from a consortium…