Mastery tests are analyzed in terms of the number of skills to be mastered and the number of items per skill, in order that correct decisions of mastery or nonmastery will be made to a desired degree of probability. It is assumed that a random sample of skills will be selected for measurement, that each skill will be measured by the same number of…

Since their beginning, intelligence tests have favored the higher social classes. Despite federal mandates to the contrary, bias in assessment is likely to remain a problem. Claims of test bias can be categorized as popular (naive); clinical (intuitive); statistical (predictive); and psychometric (construct and content). A literature review has…

Several major issues were raised against intelligence testing by the plaintiffs in Larry P. versus Wilson Riles. It was argued that since California used intelligence tests to ascertain who should be placed in programs for the educable mentally retarded (EMR), and since blacks performed less well on the tests than whites, it was the tests which…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of low difficulty and high difficulty testing approaches on the informational achievement of two groups of college students enrolled in a power mechanics course. Fifty students were assigned to two groups by a modified random technique, and treatments were randomly assigned to these groups.…

The final report adresses the problems involved in identifying gifted minority children. Reviewed is the historical perspective of cross cultural assessment in behavioral research. Typical gross errors and misinterpretations of data in cross cultural assessment are pointed out. Among fundamental considerations listed include the use of items…

This paper relates the legal requirements regarding employee selection and equal employment opportunity. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title VII; the interpretations of Title VII by the Equal Employment Commission; the case of Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971); and pertinent questions for employers, following the Griggs case, are examined. (Author)

Questions that confront teachers, administrators, and the many others involved in the education of immigrants are explored here by individuals with diverse backgrounds and points of view. The papers in this volume are written to examine a variety of issues in depth and to provide answers in relation to the education of immigrant students. While…

Black, Puerto Rican, Chicano, native American and low income white children represent the vast educational underclass who are most likely to be affected by test misuse or abuse. More than 50 million American children take at least three standardized tests a year, it is estimated. Of these an estimated ten percent are subjected to and are damaged…

The paper reviews previous research studies and conferences which have dealt with the question of whether large-scale testing programs are effective. It is concluded that such programs, defined as efforts to determine the status of student achievement on a school, district, state, or national basis, are not serving the informational needs of the…

Many people hope that the unique skills and perspectives of anthropologists can help them to make the contributions to social programs that have eluded other social scientists. Ethnography promises to make a significant contribution to evaluation of educational innovations. Before this promise can be realized, however, there are many practical and…

One of the overriding problems of any psychometric study is that aspects of behavior that are nonquantifiable or difficult to quantify are not considered. The other side of this coin is that those aspects of behavior that are easiest to quantify tend to be what are examined. In evaluating bilingual education programs, problems are found in the…

Numerous investigations of the relationship of oral language skills to the acquisition of reading show that the nonstandard language of the child accounts, at least in part, for classroom failure. Even a teacher who is well informed about the nature of nonstandard language and its relationship to reading and academic success requires a valid oral…

The materials cited here represent information on such diverse but interrelated areas as: methods of assessing achievement, intelligence, personality factors, and attitudes; effects of testing on self concept and employment opportunities; prediction of academic success; reliability and validity of specific tests; criticism of the methods and use…

Evaluation problems evolving from certain objectives of intervention programs and from the characteristics of the target population are investigated. The intellectual process approach of experimental education with its emphasis on conative and motive objectives requires an evaluation technique capable of reflecting the desired behaviors more…

This brief review explains some alternate scoring procedures to the classical method of summing correct responses. The novel procedures attempt in some way to retrieve and use even the information in the wrong responses. (Author)