The results obtained by three test administration modes were examined with a focus upon systematic bias due to lack of standardization of test administration procedures. The My Class Inventory was administered to ninety classrooms of fifth grade students in a large suburban school district. The 45 items on the inventory are distributed over five…

The role of testing has received a great deal of criticism over the years. Some steps have been taken to develop more universal items into the test. One innovation was the introduction of the multiple choice exam. Yet even with this type of aptitude test, the majority of questions and plausible answers have become quite involved and intense. All…

The article identifies major events that have impacted on public policy toward testing during the last 20 years. Events were classified, and an interpretation of the interrelationship of events was made. Events were classified as stemming from writings of individual authors, publications of professional organizations, and actions taken by the…

The Inter-American Test of General Abilities (TOGA) for bilingual children has parallel Spanish and English forms which have been used to determine language proficiency and dominance. Generally, there has been little emphasis on measuring such physical test features as size, spacing, color, and typeface. The purpose of this study was to determine…

This study investigated the effects of high and low need achievement, individual vs. group test adminstration, and potential dropout and nonpotential dropout on the Manual Dexterity Aptitude of the General Aptitude Test Battery. Following the administration of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), 120 high school males were assigned to one of…

This study describes the influence of social desirability on Rokeach Dogmatism scores and demonstrates how misleading self-report inventories can be. Dogmatism instruments with instructions suggesting either that commitment or control of personal beliefs is desirable were randomly distributed to 20 anonymous elementary teachers before a workshop…

Existing instruments for assessing brain damaged physically handicapped children are examined, and research on test modifications in the cognitive, communication, and motor performance domains is reviewed. Noted is the lack of tests standardized on a physically handicapped population. Cautions and criticisms are cited for modifications which have…

Presented are eight papers that deal with the educational implications for handicapped children of domain-referenced testing, as contrasted with standardized norm-referenced achievement testing. The crucial aspects of each testing model are highlighted by W. Hively in an introductory section. M. Reynolds surveys past and present special education…

This review summarizes the major criticisms of standardized tests and testing and attempts an evaluation of the validity of the criticisms. Viewed in the context of type of test, manner of its use, and assumptions regarding its validity, the paper discusses: (1) the imperfect-prediction problem, where predictions of performance are invalidated by…

This is a selected compilation of 47 items relating to criticisms of tests and testing. The items cover the period of ten years immediately preceding the year 1966 and are held to be scholarly writings almost without exception. The books and articles listed carry extensive annotations and focus on the following aspects of tests and testing:…

An experimental study examined the possibility that proximity error could bias results from semantic differential questionnaires. Proximity error occurs when, due to the ordering, or polarity, of the differential scales, one answer on the semantic differential results in another answer to a subsequent question being substantially changed from what…

It has been the experience of most adult basic education teachers that their students are apprehensive about taking tests. The study evaluates the effects of training adult basic education teachers in behavioral attending skills. Two basic questions were investigated: (1) Would the training of instructors in the use of behavior attending skills…

Intending to explore the interaction effects of self-esteem level and perceived program utility on the retention and cognitive achievement of adult basic education students, a self-esteem instrument, to be administered verbally, was constructed with content relevant items developed from and tested on a working class, undereducated, black, adult…

A set of pilot performance reference scales was developed based upon airborne Audio-Video Recording (AVR) of student performance in T-37 undergraduate Pilot Training. After selection of the training maneuvers to be studied, video tape recordings of the maneuvers were selected from video tape recordings already available from a previous research…

The alternative suggested is comprised of three elements: 1) Working toward changes in attitudes of people and institutions to directly attack discriminatory applications of tests; 2) Emphasizing test validation and development by new test instruments oriented to the needs of disadvantaged applicants; and, 3) Eliminating discriminatory selection…