This article reviews developments in the field of educational measurement over the preceding 20 years, focusing on criterion-referenced measurement, item response theory, standard-setting methods, and equating methods. (TJH)

Changes in Scotland's curriculum have led to changes in student testing. A system of grade-related criteria has been developed--descriptions of expected performance in key aspects of a subject at different grade levels. (GDC)

A task specification chart that integrates the content facets and the procedural steps of a specified task is suggested as a tool for designing a test and interpreting its results. This procedure is demonstrated for a mathematics test covering one instructional unit on adding and subtracting fractions. (Author/GDC)

Students participating in the United States Space Camp Program were compared on the Group Embedded Figures Test and on criterion referenced measures. Results showed that persons with field-independent differentiation are more likely to show cognitive gain while studying scientific matter, regardless of the learning environment. (Author/LMO)

Discusses problems with the ACTFL/ETS Oral Proficiency Guidelines and examines inconsistencies relating to three assumptions of oral proficiency (OPT)--hours of study, accuracy/interest, and errors. Further, it is argued that the main problems with OPT arise from an analytic approach and the native speaker yardstick. (SED)

Describes development of a test using slides and corresponding multiple-choice questions for second-year occupational therapy students in child studies course. Reasons for choosing the test format are discussed and an outline of test construction procedures is given. An evaluation of the test indicates problems encountered and benefits gained.…

Suggests how parents can assess a school's effectiveness by examining criterion referenced standardized achievement test results. Discusses (1) which test results will be used, (2) how the data should be analyzed, and (3) into what groups students should be separated to compare test results. (GC)

PLANA is a training program for subject matter analysis and construction of instructional objectives. This investigation tries to find out whether education students in the PLANA program differ from other students on planning instruction processes. (BW)

Describes a procedure for developing local norms for any type of criterion referenced, standardized, or locally developed test given in a school or system. (FL)

Examines the suggestions found in Michael Canale's paper, "Considerations in the Testing of Reading and Listening Proficiency," in the light of a possible U.S. Government's Interagency Language Roundtable receptive skills proficiency test which must supply the answer to the question of how well an individual can understand a particular…

Informal but frequent teacher evaluations of students' academic achievement are not standardized by official prescriptions dictating which reference system is to be used. Three reference norms used when evaluating achievement are: social, criterion-oriented, and individual reference norms. (PN)

The study investigated levels of agreement among graduate students (n=14) and school psychologists (n=18) in scoring drawings for the 10 designs on the WPPSI Geometric Design subtest. Considerable scoring disagreement occurred within each group. Results suggest careful study of the WPPSI scoring criteria is needed to achieve scoring proficiency.…

This articles discusses ways to respond to the need for criterion referenced information using Bayes' theorem, a method coupled with criterion referenced testing in the early 1970s. The theorem determines the most likely classification for an examinee from a dichotomous choice or through placement on a categorical or interval scale. A discussion…

This paper describes major concepts related to item analysis for criterion-referenced tests including validity, reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination, particularly in relation to criterion-referenced tests. The paper discussed how these concepts can be used to revise and improve items and listed suggestions regarding general…

The 1970s has become the time for reevaluating the intended purposes of tests, and for considering meaningful alternatives to the test score. Author considers the criterion-referenced versus the norm-referenced test. (Author/RK)