Three test-analysis models were used to analyze three types of simulated test score data plus the results of eight achievement tests. Chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the models to the four kinds of data. Data were generated to simulate the responses of 1,000 students to 36 pseudo-items by…

The Children's Attitude toward Reading Test (CHART) is presented, as well as the first draft of a technical manual describing its use. The test booklet consists of 36 unsystematically ordered pictures. Each picture represents a reading situation (instructional, school recreational, home recreational, and outdoor recreational reading) that has…

Test questions were phrased according to different sentence structures in a study of the complexity level of items for 220 third-grade children. Both the sensitivity of wh-questions (who, what, where, etc.) as a dependent variable and differences between wh-questions eliciting subject and predicate nouns were investigated. Effects of paraphrase…

Three methods of item selection were used to select sets of 38 items from a 50-item verbal analogies test and the resulting item sets were compared for internal consistency, standard errors of measurement, item difficulty, biserial item-test correlations, and relative efficiency. Three groups of 1,500 cases each were used for item selection. First…

Several measurement theorists have convincingly argued that methods of writing test questions, particularly for criterion-referenced tests, should be based on operationally defined rules. This study was designed to examine and further refine a method for objectively generating multiple-choice questions for prose instructional materials. Important…

Six approaches to assessing test item bias were examined: transformed item difficulty, point biserial correlations, chi-square, factor analysis, one parameter item characteristic curve, and three parameter item characteristic curve. Data sets for analysis were generated by a Monte Carlo technique based on the three parameter model; thus, four…

Two concerns led to the development of the screening test which is described: (1) the present 28% rate of attrition of Navy female first enlistees is too high; and (2) attrition is expected to increase when a high school diploma is no longer required for women to enter the Navy. Thus, a screening instrument was needed which could be used…

Undergraduate students in a large tests and measurements class were assigned a series of projects directly related to course content: (1) divide the textbook and instructional content into topical sub-sections; (2) identify learning outcomes for each sub-section; (3) list course objectives--working in groups of 3-6 students; (4) revise…

IN AN ATTEMPT TO LEARN WHETHER THE HUMAN RELATIONS EMPHASIS IN A SERIES OF STUDY GROUPS INFLUENCED THE OPINIONS OF FARM OPERATOR PARTICIPANTS CONCERNING FARM LABOR, 61 OPERATORS WERE PRETESTED AND POSTTESTED WITH A 37 ITEM TEST ON WORK INCENTIVES AND MOTIVATION, PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES, SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFITS, AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND…

Sullivan's Ethical Reasoning Scale contains three dilemmas with response pairs representing Kohlberg's stages of moral development. In Kohlberg's first three stages, goodness is equated with lack of punishment, usefulness, and approval, respectively. Good is seen as conformity to rule and ruler in stage four, and stage five comprises…

The test-development process used to develop criterion-referenced tests in reading for a large-city school district's system-wide testing program is described. Two types of instruments were developed: (a) a measure of students' ability to read text-books at their assigned grade levels and (b) tests of enabling skills emphasized in the basal…

The current study is concerned with identifying racial-ethnic differences in cognitive strategies or structures that are related to performance on verbal ability tests. The study had two goals: (1) to compare the semantic equivalency of intelligence test items between racial-ethnic groups, and (2) to examine the relationships of individual…

Positive values inherent in well-planned tests used in language programs are discussed in this article. The author argues that the problems of dropout rate, underachievement, discipline, and negative student attitudes can be alleviated through testing programs which include: (1) an aptitude test for selecting and sectioning students and for…

The slogan "study the victimizers, not the victims," can too easily become an excuse for substituting the ideologies and preconceptions of white and black intellectuals for the often different reality revealed by empirical research. This monograph tries to present a modest but complex set of data gathered using attitude sample survey…

This invitational conference examined some of the problems of measurement and evaluation in the inner city. Both the traditional tools and techniques of measurement in evaluation are being questioned, particularly by ghetto community members. Thus, a need was seen for clearly justifying the existence of testing and research efforts and enlisting…