The problems of standardized tests with regard to Mexican American students, particularly "ethnic validity", are reviewed. Inadequate norm group representation, cultural bias, and language bias are purported by the author to be the most common faults of standardized tests. Suggested is the elimination of standardized testing as a principal means…

This report asserts that the evaluation of young children can be viewed as a classic case of evaluation of the culturally different. Emphasized is the fact that not only are the majority of tests developed with an adult's perspective concerning adequacy of directions, items, and formats, but also the evaluation of the products is carried out…

The evidence used in condemning a test as racially biased is usually a validity coefficient for one racial group that is significantly different from that of another racial group. However, both variables in the calculation of a validity coefficient should be examined to determine where the bias lies. A study was conducted to investigate the…

At the seventh Western Regional Conference on Testing Problems, the following speeches were given: (1) "A Guidance Person's Approach to Testing for the Discovery and Development of Human Talent" by Frances D. McGill; (2) "The Instructional Uses of Measurement in the Discovery and Development of Human Talent" by Roy P. Wahle; (3) "New Frontiers of…

One formulation of confidence scoring requires the examinee to indicate as a number his personal probability of the correctness of each alternative in a multiple-choice test. For this formulation, a linear transformation of the logarithm of the correct response is maximized if the examinee reports accurately his personal probability. To equate…

Consideration is given to the degree of congruence between objectives and test items in the evaluation of objective-based testing. An analytic technique that measures congruence is described, and a bibliography is provided. (CK)

This paper describes the development of a criterion-referenced test. The Prescriptive Mathematics Inventory (PMI) was developed to measure 400 stated behavioral objectives. The test consists of three overlapping levels with the objectives chosen to cover 90 to 95 per cent of the mathematics curriculum nominally taught in grades 4 through 8. Each…

These rating scales are intended for evaluation of student pilot performance. Each student is evaluated individually on the basis of video recordings of the student in flight. Ten point rating lines are used for the ten criterion performance elements of each of three maneuvers, (1) Final Turn to Landing, (2) Lazy Eight, and (3) Vertical S "A".…

A standardized achievement testing program was begun in Alum Rock, California in the fall of 1972 as part of an evaluation of an Educational Voucher Demonstration. During each of the first three years of the demonstration both the form of test administration and the particular level of the standardized achievement test that a student is assigned…

Suggests that until some meaning of innate capacity is included, the word intelligence has little precision separate from its use in a social or cultural context. The culture that evolves its definition of intelligence will identify the tasks that fulfill that definition. (Author/AM)

Reviews some of the specific issues that underlie the testing controversy and suggests that it has become increasingly difficult to separate the issue of testing from the realities of a political situation which leaves black children at the mercy of a unified white majority that is often indifferent to their educational welfare. (Author/AM)

Political and educational consequences of standard setting for criterion-referenced tests are discussed. Suggestions for setting standards are given. (JKS)

The cloze procedure, an established measure of reading achievement, requires language and reading skills not yet available to elementary school English-second-language pupils who are not literate in their vernacular. A modified cloze procedure, designed to overcome this problem, was found to correlate with traditional vocabulary and reading…

The use of adaptive behavior scales in the assessment of minority children was discussed. Positive and negative characteristics of the scales developed by Mercer and Lambert were identified and discussed. Recommendations included cautions for the use of such scales in the evaluation of culturally different minority children. (Author)