The author presents his view that the public has not been well informed about the limitations of college entrance examinations. Several educational trends are discussed: (1) since World War II, college admissions testing has underscored the classic American tension between egalitarianism and meritocracy; (2) more students have aspired to attend…

An instrument was developed for observing teaching behaviors related to some of the theoretical components of inquiry teaching. Four scales were designed to measure personalized planning, confrontational emphasis, transitional querying, and manipulative opportunities. Inter-rater reliability was obtained for ten taped samples of secondary social…

The development of a probabilistic model for validating Gange's learning hierarchies is described. Learning hierarchies are defined as paired networks of intellectual tasks arranged so that a substantial amount of positive transfer occurs from tasks in a lower position to connected ones in a higher position. This probabilistic validation technique…

A test was developed to assess personal self-concept values of preprimary and primary aged children. If large scale preschool programs are to be justified, effects in the areas of intellectual growth, achievement performance, and personal-social growth must be observable in children several years after preschool experience and must be measurable…

A computerized adaptive testing model was applied to a hierarchically arranged series of subtests within the instructional context of a technical education system. The model was a modification of Lord's flexilevel paradigm; however, it did not allow for individualized entry. Two achievement tests, each divided into five hierarchically related…

The Teacher Behavior Questionnaire was designed to measure the nature of the organization structure of schools in terms of the behavior of teachers as observed by fellow teachers on a school staff. The development of the Questionnaire consisted of modifying the School Organizational Inventory (Punch) in several ways: each item was changed to…

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, degree of item bias, and testing strategy. Computer simulation was used in the administration of either a conventional or Bayesian adaptive ability test to a…

This study investigated the value of the Advanced Placement English course in New York State secondary schools, the college performances of former Advanced Placement and Non-Advanced Placement English participants, the best predictor of accelerants' performances in the first college English course, and which predictors, when combined, stabilized…

This report reviews the results of the Australian Surveys of Primary School Achievement given every five years from 1955 to 1970. It compares results of the tests and explains why the survey was discontinued in 1975. Subjects were approximately 1,000 fifth-grade and 1,000 seventh-grade students selected as a representative sample of Australian…

An attempt was made to see what effect implementation of ethical guidelines would have on cognitive and affective data collected in a classroom setting. A total of 126 graduate and 90 undergraduate male and female subjects were assigned randomly to six treatment groups. The six groups were provided different levels of information on a continuum…

The problems associated with the transition from the secondary level to the tertiary level in education have given rise to many surveys, analyses of statistics, research projects, reports and literature reviews. Much has been written on topics such as testing, selection, prediction and wastage, with findings and conclusions which appear to have…

Research resulting in the development of the Specific Aptitude Test Battery for use in selecting inexperienced or untrained individuals for training as Utility Hands (paper goods) was described. Aptitudes measured were form perception, clerical perception, and manual dexterity. Job analysis was performed by observation of the workers' performance…

The second volume of Innovative Education Practices presents descriptions of 84 outstanding projects funded under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The projects are in the areas of School Administration; Special Education; Guidance; Reading, Math, and Academics; Early Childhood Education; Teacher/Staff Development;…

The United States Training and Employment Service General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), first published in 1947, has been included in a continuing program of research to validate the tests against success in many different occupations. The GATB consists of 12 tests which measure nine aptitudes: General Learning Ability; Verbal Aptitude; Numeric…

Monte Carlo simulation procedures were used to study the psychometric characteristics of two two-stage adaptive tests and a conventional "peaked" ability test. Results showed that scores yielded by both two-stage tests better reflected the normal distribution of underlying ability. Ability estimates yielded by one of the two stage tests…