Four essays and associated introductory text constituting the proceedings of a symposium on statewide testing in Texas are presented. The papers include: (1) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Historical Perspective" (Glynn Ligon); (2) "Statewide Testing in Texas: Local School District Perspectives" (Whit Johnstone and others); (3)…

The South Carolina Trade Examinations for trade and industrial education teachers are administered semiannually by the Office of Vocational Education. This handbook is designed to provide prospective trade and industrial education teachers, vocational administrators, State Department of Education personnel, and other interested parties with…

Since 1984, passing scores on the Preprofessional Skills Tests (PPST) have been required for entry into teacher education programs at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). College of education faculty, concerned because the majority of their population has traditionally been older, Hispanic students, developed a pre-PPST screening and…

The School Mastery of Reading Test (SMRT) program was designed to give administrators and teachers information about reading performance and recommendations for improving the instructional program. The project includes development of a valid and reliable reading test based on the New York City curriculum in order to assess the potential linkage…

In fall 1987, a study was conducted at Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) to examine the college's system of basic skills assessment for course placement. The study investigated the adequacy of established cut scores; placement evasion (i.e., the disregarding of a recommendation to take a developmental course) and its consequences; the use of…

The Arizona Tax Research Association analyzed the Arizona Teacher Proficiency Examination (ATPE). An item analysis of the 150 questions administered to 2,430 applicants from July 1982 through March 1983 was undertaken. A minimum point biserial correlation coefficient of .33 indicated the validity of an item. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the…

The comprehensive testing program used by the New York City Board of Examiners to develop tests for licensure of teachers is compared with national approaches to licensing. The first step in developing a licensing examination in New York is thorough job analysis leading to the preparation of task statements. These are used to develop lists of…

This pamphlet provides information for physical education teachers on the Presidential Physical Fitness Award Program. A project of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in cooperation with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the program recognizes outstanding physical fitness among children…

The problem of finding a meaningful way of demonstrating the benefit or satisfaction to be gained by using predictive assessment techniques to select or place individuals in work situations is explored. The urgent need of developing nations for appropriate occupational and educational selection procedures is presented and explained. A discussion…

The results of a follow-up study on local school district development and implementation of minimal competency testing (MCT) programs are reported. Critical questions regarding: (1) motivation and purposes; (2) selection of tests, procedures, and standards; and (3) impact, follow-up, and change are examined. The follow-up study investigated…

A pilot study was undertaken to develop appropriate writing samples for assessment of composing tasks, to examine the utility and time requirements of scoring keys, particularly regarding their consistency and objectivity, and to study the efficacy of scoring guides. Five classes from second to sixth grade in a school in the Los Angeles Unified…

The effects of a school district's testing and evaluation activities cannot be effectively assessed without an understanding of the explicit and implicit goals embedded in the policies and practices of the district. A structured workshop process to elicit a district's intentions related to the effects--uses and impacts--of testing and evaluation…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of disclosing a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) form on the retest performance of examinees who initially had been tested with the disclosed form and subsequently retested with a different form. Retest performance was compared for three random samples of examinees who had been tested with the SAT as…

A review of relevant research reveals the general characteristics of a test of oral communication performance, some specific characteristics of testing programs, and some directions that future performance testing should take. Characteristics of tests of oral communication performance are as follows: (1) students should be able to apply the skills…

A representative group of 4,000 California high school seniors was randomly assigned one of five essay topics. Each essay was given two independent ratings based on criteria specified for each topic by an advisory group of English teachers. On the basis of the scores, a representative subset of 750 essays was randomly selected from the top…