At the root of the performance assessment movement is fairly widespread dissatisfaction with high-stakes multiple-choice tests. Many critics of multiple-choice tests argue that to improve instruction, tests themselves will have to improve. Hundreds of schools around the country are already experimenting with performance assessments, and many…

This document provides information on student performance at the state, regional, and school system levels on end-of-grade multiple choice tests for grades 3 through 8 in reading and mathematics and the end-of-course multiple choice tests administered in high school subjects in 1996-97 as part of the North Carolina Testing Program. The figures and…

Several studies have shown that, on average, women perform slightly better than men on free-response tests, while men perform slightly better on multiple-choice tests. Two advanced placement examinations, United States History (USH) and European History (EH), were chosen for study because previous studies have shown that sex differences on the…

Standardized tests often produce results that are inaccurate, inconsistent, and biased against minority, female, and low-income students. Such tests shift control and authority into the hands of the unregulated testing industry and can undermine school achievement by narrowing the curriculum, frustrating teachers, and driving students out of…

This study involving 29 students enrolled in an 8-week summer Algebra II class for minority students was undertaken to determine the relationship between the kinds of symbolic forms used in problem-solving instruction and students' problem-solving processes and performance. All subjects were Black or Hispanic and were about to enter grade 11. For…

Since the mid-1960s, the use of objective testing in education, and multiple-choice tests in particular, has increased dramatically in the Netherlands. Since the founding of the Dutch National Institute for Educational Measurement in 1968, the construction of many achievement tests has been concentrated there. This general changeover from…

This paper discusses the content of the social studies tests of the 1981-82 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Selected social studies and citizenship items were administered to 3,200 students aged 9, 13, and 17 and to adults aged 26-35. Twelve sources describing the social studies tests were reviewed, particularly the Citizenship…

Workshop and seminar summaries and abstracts of papers from the twelfth international conference on improving university teaching are presented. Theme presentation and seminar topics are: distance education; ways that associations improve university teaching; corporate, labor, university partnerships; and teaching part-time students. Workshop…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this test on writing contains general instructions and the following three writing tasks: (1) a personal response to an aspect of literature, (2) functional writing requiring a written response within a given situation or context, and (3) a response to…

Intended to help teachers prepare students for the Alberta (Canada) Grade 12 diploma examinations, this bulletin updates information about the design, sections, and scoring of the examinations in English 30 and 33 for the 1987-88 school year. Following a summary of the substantial revisions the examinations have undergone for this current edition,…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this test on writing contains general instructions and the following three writing tasks: (1) a personal response to an aspect of literature; (2) functional writing requiring a written response within a given situation or context; and (3) a response to…

An activity was undertaken to develop written criterion-referenced tests for the forestry component of Applied Principles of Agribusiness and Natural Resources. Intended for tenth grade students who have completed Fundamentals of Agribusiness and Natural Resources Occupations, applied principles were designed to consist of three components, with…

Intended for students taking the English 33 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test booklet contains the composition component of the June 1988 tests. During 2.5 hours, students are required to perform the following writing tasks: (1) a personal response to an excerpt from Ursula K. Le Guin's "Very Far Away from Anywhere…

The paper assesses the degree of understanding about the free enterprise system gained by participants in a one-month summer inservice teacher training institute. Developed in response to a 1973 Texas House Bill which mandated the inclusion of free enterprise education in the secondary curriculum, the institute suggests major topics, concepts, and…

Four forms of a 36-item adaptation of the Stanford Achievement Test were administered to 484 fourth graders. External factors potentially influencing test performance were examined, namely: (1) item order (easy-to-difficult vs. uniform); (2) response location (left column vs. right column); (3) handedness which may interact with response location;…