This report to the Louisiana legislature describes the results of the student assessment phase of a mandated accountability program, in which criterion referenced tests of reading performance in vocabulary, phonetic analysis, structural analysis, comprehension, study skills, and word attack skills were administered to 160,771 students in grades 4,…

Criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests are compared, and norm-referenced tests are found to have inadequacies as a basis for evaluation or instructional improvement. Disadvantages of norm-referenced tests, which measure a student's performance relative to the performance of other students, are: (1) mismatches between local curriculum and…

Intended for use with nine individualized learning modules (CE 017 441-449), this instructor's handbook is designed to assist vocational educators in conducting inservice programs relative to performance-based vocational education utilizing Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) catalogs. Included in this handbook are the…

Designed for use in a self-paced, open-entry/open-exit vocational training program in child care services, this curriculum guide is one of six for teachers of adult women offenders from a correctional institution. Module topic outlines and sample lesson plans are presented on six topics: caring for infants, discipline and guidance of young…

The concept of adaptation is approached from several directions: (1) a discussion of the meanings of adaptation; (2) a functional socio-cultural set of considerations on which one can base measurement in adaptive behavior; and (3) a practical, applied conceptualization relative to the utilization of the obtained information and the reasons for…

This document describes the principles of the basic testing program of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) and reports results in detail for the year 1978-79. Included are (1) the procedures used in developing the tests, (2) the statistical characteristics of the tests, (3) the methods employed in analyzing the findings, and (4)…

In Australia the usual evaluation of whether a student will perform adequately as a doctor is a subjective evaluation of his clinical performance, usually at the completion of five or six years at medical school. The evaluation is performed on an inadequate and uncontrolled patient sample and appears to be subject to many errors. Recent work…

The Number Test of the ACER Mathematics Profile Series, contains 30 items, for each of three suggested grade levels: 7-8, 8-9, and 9-10. Raw scores on all tests in the ACER Mathematics Profile Series (Number, Operations, Space and Measurement) are converted to a common scale called MAPS, a major feature of the Series. Based on the Rasch Model,…

The Melbourne Music Evaluation Kit (MEK) was designed to aid teachers of first-year secondary-school music classes to select appropriate curriculum materials related to the music backgrounds of class members, as indicated by scores on the kit. Tests included in the kit are criterion- referenced and are used as a diagnostic tool to measure…

This training manual for a secondary-postsecondary-level course in light frame construction I is one of a number of military-developed curriculum packages selected for adaptation to vocational instruction and curriculum development in a civilian setting. Purpose stated for the fifty-hour course is for students to develop the skills required in…

The problems associated with misclassifying students when pass-fail decisions are based on test scores are discussed. One protection against misclassification is to set a confidence interval around the cutting score. Those whose scores fall above the interval are passed; those whose scores fall below the interval are failed; and those whose scores…

A test development plan is described to evaluate police enrolled in the law enforcement basic training course developed by California's Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Some general test methodologies are discussed: performance tests, knowledge tests, and situational tests, including role playing simulations and…

Characteristics of the Minnesota Statewide Educational Assessment Program, initiated by the state department of education, are: stratified student samples based on five sizes and types of school districts; assessment of academic subject areas in periodic cycles; subject area objectives cooperatively planned with the curriculum unit in the…

This consortium-developed instructor's manual for small engine repair (with focus on outboard motors) consists of the following nine instructional units: electrical remote control assembly, mechanical remote control assembly, tilt assemblies, exhaust housing, propeller and trim tabs, cooling system, mechanical gearcase, electrical gearcase, and…

Several intermediate performance objectives and corresponding criterion measures are listed for each of 14 terminal objectives for a basic automotive mechanics course. The materials were developed for a two-semester course (2 hours daily) designed to provide training in the basic fundamentals in diagnosis and repair including cooling system and…