College students were trained on a hierarchical mapping technique designed to facilitate prose processing. The students studied a geology passage and five days later were given four types of tests. The treatment group significantly outperformed a control group; the major differences were attributable to concept cloze and essay exams. (Author/RD)

The factor structure and scale characteristics of a shortened version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale (SCBE) are presented for a Quebec (Canada) sample of 910 preschoolers and three U.S. samples totaling 1,736. Also presented are age and gender differences in preschool emotional and behavioral problems. (SLD)

The accuracy with which expert systems (ESs) score a new nonmultiple-choice free-response test item was investigated, using 734 high school students who were administered an advanced-placement computer science examination. ESs produced scores for 82 percent to 95 percent of the responses and displayed high agreement with a human reader on the…

The effects of varying placement of a review period and test expectancy on students' notetaking, review strategies, and performance on delayed free recall, application, and cloze tests were studied for 156 undergraduates. The benefits of reviewing notes and optimal placement of the review period partly depended on the test type. (SLD)

Explores the sources of beliefs about science-technology-society topics and investigates the degree of ambiguity harbored by four different response modes, such as Likert-type, written paragraph, semistructured interview, and empirically developed multiple choice. Finds that mass media have a greater impact than science classes. (Author/YP)

Effects of passage and item-scrambling on equipercentile and item-response theory equating were investigated using 2 scrambled versions of the American College Testing Program Assessment for approximately 25,000 examinees. Results indicate that using a base-form conversion table with a scrambled form affects the individual examinee level. (SLD)

The Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults consists of six subtests related to employment and independent living, and uses booklets and videotapes/videodisks with questions presented in sign language. Comparison of alternative formats indicated that group administration of the multiple-choice format produced acceptable…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 107 classroom and laboratory studies concerning the effects of expecting a recall, recognition, essay, multiple-choice, or true-false test on students' subsequent achievement. Laboratory studies did not generalize well to classrooms. In classroom studies, subjects performed better when they knew which test type to…

Item parameter estimates derived through item response theory methods have been considered relatively robust to changes in item position and context, but the anomaly in reading scores from the 1986 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) illustrates problems with common population equating procedures when there are test form changes.…

An Australian study examined the role of language background and gender in the assessment of native and non-native English-speaking university students enrolled in physics courses. Attention was given to differential performance and was analyzed in relation to test-item type and level of student communication skills. Implications for academic…

This article describes the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, an assessment instrument designed to assess the phonological processing skills of individuals between the ages of 5 and 24.11 years and to identify those with phonological processing difficulties. Its administration, standardization, reliability, and validity are discussed.…

This article reviews the revised KeyMath Revised-Normative Update American and Canadian editions, and a draft version of the 1999 pending revision. The assessment instrument is intended to test basic mathematical concepts, operations, and applications of students in grades K-12. Its administration, standardization, reliability, and validity are…

An oral testing method used in an intensive high school Spanish program is based on a model of communicative competence positing four forms of competence: strategic; sociolinguistic; discourse; and linguistic. All oral domains but linguistic are tested in the first and second years. In the first year, benchmark testing occurs. The rubric used has…

The last century was marked by dazzling changes in many areas, such as technology and communications. Predictions into the second century of testing are seemingly difficult in such a context. Yet, looking back to the turn of the last century, Kirkpatrick (1900), in his American Psychological Association presidential address, presented fundamental…

Nearly all Western loanwords in Japanese are first introduced to the public by a small number of individuals with most Japanese people having never heard or read the word before, and having no role to play in their borrowing. Because of this presumptuous use of foreign words by, for example, academics, government bodies, and the media, the…