Differential test performance by undergraduate males and females enrolled in a developmental educational psychology course (n=167) was reported on a quantitative examination as a function of item arrangement. Males were expected to perform better than females on tests whose items arranged easy to hard. Plake and Ansorge (1982) speculated this may…

This report provides historical background on the origins, development and procedures, of Educational Testing Service's (ETS's) Board of Review. Established in 1969, the Board of Review makes final decisions for all test scores of questionable validity. ETS cancels or withholds scores believed to be invalid. Reasons for invalid scores range from…

The literature on item bias, i.e., the question of whether some items in tests favor one cultural group over another cultural group due to irrelevant factors, is reviewed and evaluated. All known references through 1981 are described including a large number of unpublished reports. Each method is described and the criticisms that have appeared in…

The net effect of the conditions under which tests are taken was empirically investigated using the scores obtained by high school students on an English and a mathematics test. (Author/BB)

State wide, nation-wide, and international tests of students' knowledge hinder the creative talents of students by forcing homogeneity instead of variety in curriculum and teaching. (DE)

Several possible faking predictor scores were related to a continuously measured index of faking based on differences between faked and normal records and also to a dichotomous criterion of faking on the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS). Correlational analysis revealed that a total CPS summary score best indicated fakery. (Author/BJG)

Provides a brief history of competitive examinations and testing--especially in education--and reminds teachers of the purposes of testing. (RB)

Three pilot studies--effects of writing prompt modality on writing performance; effect of topic familiarity; and effect of topic, sample and rater group membership on the stability of scoring criteria application--are used to identify the variability in student writing performance. A writing competency test aims to assess writing-specific skills…

Three separate papers are included in this report. The first describes a two-stage procedure for choosing from among several instructional programs the one which maximizes the probability of passing the test. The second gives the exact sample sizes required to determine whether a squared multiple correlation coefficient is above or below a known…