Raises philosophical and technical questions about the Tennessee minimum competency testing program, including: what subject and skills are basic; who determines what competencies are minimal; what should be the consequences of failure; who is responsible for remediation of failing students; do or should skills being taught match skills being…

The present social and political climate is marked by an increasing appreciation of human diversity and of society's need to accommodate such diversity. The social context for testing is thus fundamentally different from that in which standardized testing developed. Testing should now be more concerned with facilitating equal opportunity.…

Reports the results of a study in which two groups of university students completed the Attitude toward Disabled Persons scale. Results indicate that scores were affected significantly between the groups when participants were exposed to disabled as opposed to able-bodied experimenters. (Author)

The author cautions against the widespread overuse of tests which could lead to typecasting and limiting students rather than teaching them. He lists both effective and ineffective uses of tests. (KC)

Applies the basic principle of performance to taking tests, poses some alternative views of test performance, and provides some general guidelines that will facilitate improved test-taking. (Author/CM)

Basic rules of test construction are detailed to provide teachers with ways to improve the validity and reliability of teacher-made tests and worksheets. Designing the test, writing the items, and scoring the test are each discussed. The critical need for good instruments is promoted. (MP)

Presented for 64 subjects a replication of the Family Environment Scale's maximum likelihood factor structure for which the two-factor, Varimax-rotated solution was found to be stable when the correlations among the subscales were corrected for the effects of social desirability response bias. (Author)

Analyzes alternative cloze forms derived from selected deletion strategies, scoring procedures, and blank conditions for respective effects on the cloze test performance of college-level readers. (HOD)

Development of an information processing model provided concepts for analyzing test anxiety. Results implied that worry reported by high test-anxious students is due to inadequate knowledge of subject matter rather than a personality characteristic. Programs emphasizing learning strategies and coping techniques are urged. (CE)

The state of research on intelligence is reviewed in an editorial. The author notes conceptual, measurement, and data analysis problems. Suggestions as to how research on intelligence can be improved are provided. (RD)

Evaluations of experimental interventions which employ self-report measures are subject to contamination known as response-shift bias. Response-shift effects may be attenuated by substituting retrospective pretest ratings for the traditional self-report pretest ratings. This study indicated that the retrospective rating more accurately reflected…

Three of Guilford's tests of divergent thinking were scored for ideational fluency and originality. The originality scores were reliable, but when the effects of ideational fluency were partialed out of the originality scores, all reliabilities showed substantial decrements; interest correlations dropped to zero or showed a substantial decrement.…

These studies indicated preschool children show a high degree of variability when responding to the same test questions within short time intervals. In two studies, children were inconsistent in responding. In a third, one-third of the children responded inconsistently. Studies with standardized test items revealed inconsistency among most…

Responds to the Nader report on the Educational Testing Service authored by Nairn. Major themes of the nine chapters of the report are addressed. The last sections provide comment on the responses of the Educational Testing Service. (RC)

Identified groups with high and low levels of mistrust of Whites. Half of the participants in each group were then administered the WAIS by a white examiner. The remaining were tested by a Black examiner. The Black examiner-high mistrust group scored significantly higher than the White examiner-high mistrust group. (Author)