This paper examines some of the issues involved in releasing test results to the press. The first part is based on a survey of National Association of Test Directors members (72 of the 142 members completed a questionnaire on reporting test results to the public). The survey included the following: to whom are results reported; what kind of…

Differential item performance (DIP) is discussed as a concept that does not necessarily imply item bias or unfairness to subgroups of examinees. With curriculum-based achievement tests, DIP is presented as a valid reflection of group differences in requisite skills and instruction. Using data from a national testing of the ACT Assessment, this…

This study determines whether Black students who have been placed in an EMR program on the basis of WISC full scale IQ scores as the primary criterion measure would be ruled out when tested on the BITCH. Results indicate that students obtain similar scores on both tests. (Author)

In order to appropriately interpret norm referenced measures, we need to know the characteristics of persons in the standardization sample. Mercer (1977) states that evidence from three sources should be examined when deciding if pluralistic norms are needed. First, do racial-ethnic groups differ on important social, economic, and cultural…

Educational Testing Service (ETS) research that is relevant to the concerns of women and the educational process can be categorized into four areas: (1) research primarily about women; (2) research focusing on sex differences or similarities; (3) research that reports, but does not focus on sex differences; and (4) research identifying methods of…

Provides a cursory comparison of four popular social studies achievement tests, discusses the relationship between the subject matter and the test, and provides examples of new methods of testing that give the teacher and the class tools for summarizing and interpreting what they are learning as they work together. (Author/IRT)

Noting that the question of how to evaluate the effect of an educational program on child language reduces to the question of how to analyze child language, the author discusses ways to measure those functional aspects of child language which may be most sensitive to both environmental interferences and environmental facilitations. (Author/JM)

The concept that a child's potential reading level can be measured via listening comprehension has at least one major shortcoming: it is of doubtful worth for children in grades one through three. First, reading comprehension and listening comprehension are not approximately equal early in a child's schooling. In fact, it seems that they generally…

The author discusses the state of the art in assessment of African American children with possible handicaps. He asserts that changes must be made regarding the goal of assessment, the role of the assessors, the process of assessment, the criterion for validity, and the preparation of assessors. He further suggests that the problem with testing is…

Analyses of student responses to Introductory Psychology test questions were discussed. The publisher supplied a two thousand item test bank on computer tape. Instructors selected questions for fifteen item tests. The test questions were labeled by the publisher as factual or conceptual. The semester course used a mastery learning format in which…

Two fundamental problems in mental test theory are to estimate true score and to estimate the amount of error when testing an examinee. In this report, three probability models which characterize a single test item in terms of a population of examinees are described. How these models may be modified to characterize a single examinee in terms of an…

An investigation of the relative validity of self-assessments versus standardized tests indicated that both self-assessments and objectively tested abilities were significantly related to supervisory ratings of overall job performance. While these correlations were not significantly different, further analysis revealed that objectively tested…

Policy-making problems being faced in Louisiana regarding the testing of handicapped students within a state mandated minimum competency testing program are dealt with. The decision-making process is complicated by the fact that two groups (staff administering the test and staff administering programs for the handicapped) with differing…