Provides suggestions for changes that would move campuses toward the ideal of fostering growth of critical thinking skills. Recommendations are divided into the areas of campus atmosphere, classroom behavior, student attitudes, curriculum materials, and criterion-referenced evaluation instruments. (JDH)

A research-derived integrated system of curriculum development and instructional delivery called NEBEAT (Needs Based Education and Training) is described in relation to more traditional-behaviorally-based systems models. Four major components of curriculum design are examined as features which differentiate NEBEAT from its antecedents. (Author/MBR)

A unified framework for validating criterion-referenced test (CRT) interpretation is proposed. Using functional literacy as an illustration, the instructional outcomes assessed are called achievement constructs, and described in psychological and behavioral terms. The proposed construct validation methods can yield tests more closely linked to…

This study examined the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of basal mastery tests of three commercial reading series. Results indicated that reliability and validity of the test varied among and within instruments. Implications for developing and using basal mastery tests are discussed. (Author/MT)

Presents a historical overview of the introduction of the major reading comprehension assessments, showing that the predominant approaches were shaped by the prevailing educational measurement milieu and were implemented largely in response to public pressure. Argues in favor of a naturalistic reading comprehension assessment for evaluating those…

Investigated the reliability of the McCarthy Screening Test (MST) from a criterion-referenced standpoint, using a sample of 1,323 children. Suggested that dependability indices be adopted for clinical instruments such as the MST. (JAC)

Cautions that criterion referenced tests are no more effective at diagnosing comprehension subskills than are traditional instruments, and they may lend false credibility to the subskill approach to comprehension. (AEA)

Estimation is by means of iterative convergence to maximum likelihood estimates, and two approaches to assessing fit of the model to sample data are discussed. Relation of this general probabilistic model to other, more restricted models is explored and three cases of the general model are applied to exemplary data. (Author/RC)

On April 5, 2002, the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) entered into a compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to bring the state into compliance with the provisions of the following federal laws: Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1994, P.L. 103-382 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)…

Achieving a fair and objective evaluation of teacher performance is not easy. Student test results have been used to assess teacher performance, but this approach has many weaknesses, especially because students differ from school to school and standardized tests are open to questions about their fairness. Criterion-referenced tests have been…

Describes an assessment instrument for evaluating basic reading skills, the Minimal Reading Proficiency Assessment. (TO)

The potential of Holland's theory for use in the vocational guidance of adult women depends in part on more validity data with regard to the conceptual meaningfulness of the constructs. This study reports the findings of a correlative analysis between scores on Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), which measures the six styles,'' and…

A description of the design and operation of a computerized objective based instructional support system. Single-point-in-time criterion mastery testing and periodic trend test sampling combine to form a dynamic evaluation system. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to examine the assembly and system models of reading with respect to the development of phoneme-grapheme association skills in normal and disabled readers. (Author)