This paper considers some practical concepts and ideas related to standardized test score improvement in general and specifically to the World Institute for Computer-Assisted Teaching (WICAT) Integrated Learning System (ILS) use. Previous research cited in this paper shows that, while teachers are the most important variable in ILS utilization,…

A discussion of language testing in the context of a program in English for Special Purposes (ESP) focuses on the lack of "fit" between the two areas and makes some recommendations for improvement. It begins with overviews of recent trends in testing and recent issues in ESP. Overlap is seen in two areas: construct and content validity. It is…

This court litigation reverses Farris and Black of Home School Legal Defense Association v. South Carolina State Board of Education, which found that the Education Entrance Examination (EEE) was properly validated for use in testing home school instructors as regulated by S. C. Code Ann. Section 59-65-40(A)(1)(a)(1990), the home schooling statute…

Problems in accountability assessment are examined from a unique perspective by considering the prices paid as a result of the use of secret tests (tests comprised of items drawn from non-publicly available item banks). This report is a compilation of the following articles: (1) "The Social, Intellectual, and Psychological Prices of…

Procedures used in securing the cooperation of states and schools for the 1990 Trial State Assessment Program (TSAP) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are described. These include procedures for: (1) the 1989 Field Test; (2) the training of local administrators and quality control monitors; and (3) scoring and processing…

The predictive and incremental validity of the New Medical College Admission Test (New MCAT) Science Problems Subtest was examined with a sample of over 165 medical students. Criterion measures were National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Part I (basic science) and Part II (clinical science) performance. The Science Problems subscore is derived…

The passage comprehensibility of three diagnostic reading tests--the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, the Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales, and the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty--was evaluated using the following text variables: content familiarity, vocabulary, the number of idea units in the text, the number of text-based inferences…

Subjects from two junior high schools were assembled in large and small groups and simultaneously administered the same self-concept, locus-of-control, and semantic differential attitude scales. No significant differences were found on any criterion. (Author)

Students at two age levels were given paper and pencil mathematics tests as well as individually administered practical tests. Test development and administration are discussed, and some results of the experiment are presented. (SD)

This paper is prompted by the Joint Statement issued from the Education Summit, and addresses the need to change testing policy from reliance on standardized, multiple-choice testing to the use of more authentic methods of assessing educational performance and progress. The governors are warned against increasing the use of standardized tests and…

The work of the ethicist Charles Curran and the problem-solving strategy of the mixed consequentialist ethical model are applied to a traditional social science measurement problem--that of how to adjust a recommended standard in order to be fair to the test-taker and society. The focus is on criterion-referenced teacher certification tests.…

The relationship between test anxiety and performance on oral comprehensive examinations was studied, with special attention to the repressor phenomenon. Repressors are persons who report low anxiety, but are actually more stressed than are low anxious subjects, as evidenced on measures not relying on self-report. Subjects were 42 female graduate…

The effect of dimensionality on an adaptive test's ability estimation was examined. Two-dimensional data sets, which differed from one another in the interdimensional ability association, the correlation among the difficulty parameters, and whether the item discriminations were or were not confounded with item difficulty, were generated for 1,600…

Although there are many advantages to using computer-based tests (CBTs) linked to computer-based instruction (CBI), there are also several difficulties. In certain instructional settings, it is difficult to conduct psychometric analyses of test results. Several measurement issues surface when CBT programs are linked to CBI. Testing guidelines…

This study investigated participants' reactions to computerized testing and assessed the practicability of this testing method in the classroom. A sample of 315 secondary-level students took a computerized and a printed version of a standardized aptitude test battery and a survey assessing their reactions to the computerized testing. Overall…