This paper discusses equity issues that may arise from the widespread use of high stakes computerized testing. The literature relevant to computerized testing is examined from the perspective of equity concerns from within the framework of research and from the perspective of possible uses of computerized testing if equity issues are considered…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) is a section of the International Personnel Management Association dedicated to the improvement of public personnel assessment in such fields as selection and performance evaluation. Before the IPMAAC's fifth annual conference in 1981, four workshops were conducted on…

At San Juan College, the effectiveness of student basic skills assessment and course placement advisement was significantly improved through the implementation of Computerized Placement Testing (CPT). The CPT lab houses 15 personal computers and is staffed by professional counselors and student services aides. Students are not allowed to leave the…

The strategies examinees employ when making item difficulty level choices in self-adapted computerized testing were investigated. Subjects were 148 college students (88 females and 60 males) in an introductory statistics course. The primary instrument was a self-adapted computerized algebra test used to measure student readiness for the statistics…

The 54 conference papers and abstracts on the possible role of computers in the world of education in the Republic of South Africa which are presented in this volume are published under the sections and in the order in which they appeared on the congress program. The names of the sections and the number of presentations in each are as follows: (1)…

Concerned with the failure of multiple choice tests to measure composition--as opposed to grammar and usage--skills, college researchers studied the value of using writing samples to place students in composition classes. Evaluating the writing samples of 300 incoming freshmen, they did not find a high correlation between sample scores and…

There is a great need to explore approaches for developing computer-based testing systems that are more accessible for people with disabilities. This report explores three prototype test delivery approaches, describing their development and formative evaluations. Fifteen adults, 2 to 4 from each of the six disability statuses--blindness, low…

This study explores the test-retest consistency of computer adaptive tests of varying lengths. The testing model used was designed as a mastery model to determine whether an examinee's estimated ability level is above or below a pre-established criterion expressed in the metric (logits) of the calibrated item pool scale. The Rasch model was used…

The use of optical scanners and computers in educational testing is common where objective testing methods (such as true-false, matching, and multiple-choice items) are well-established means of evaluating educational achievement. Where non-objective testing methods (such as fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, and essay items) have been more common,…

The six editions of the newsletter provide a forum for the sharing of research findings and instructional strategies by faculty of Western Michigan University. Topics addressed include: active learning; lecture variations; lecture techniques; grading student participation; leading discussions; overcoming silence; discussion challenges; course…

A standard-setting procedure was developed for the Georgia Teacher Certification Testing Program as tests in 30 teaching fields were revised. A list of important characteristics of a standard-setting procedure was derived, drawing on the work of R. A. Berk (1986). The best method was found to be a highly formalized judgmental, empirical Angoff…

The Prevocational Assessment Screen (PAS) is designed to provide instructors or evaluators with a quick (50 minutes to score and administer) and simple (requiring no training to administer) method of screening mildly handicapped and disadvantaged youth between 14 and 21 years of age for job training and placement. PAS contains eight samples which…

This report describes technical plans and progress during the second year (Fiscal Year 1984) of work on the U.S. Army's Project A: "Improving the Selection, Classification, and Utilization of Army Enlisted Personnel." Project A is a long-range research program developed by the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social…

This report explores an approach to item development and psychometric modeling which explicitly incorporates knowledge about the mental models used by examinees in the solution of items into a psychometric model that characterize performances on a test, as well as incorporating that knowledge into the item development process. The paper focuses on…

Specific questions addressed in this study include how time limits affect a test's construct and predictive validities, how time limits affect an examinee's time allocation and test performance, and whether the assumption about how examinees answer items is valid. Interactions involving an examinee's sex and age are studied. Two parallel forms of…