This paper reports on research conducted to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the achievement test scores of students who enter first grade as 5-year-olds, and those who enter first grade as 6-year-olds. Ex post facto research was conducted on 3 samples of students (17,000 from 1st grades, 17,500 from 4th…

A survey of administrators, teachers, and parents in 15 Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I school districts indicated that evaluations are used locally to meet federal and state requirements, to inform parents and staff, and to confirm positive attitudes toward a program. Standardized achievement tests, the backbone of Title I evaluations,…

The nature and common uses of standardized achievement tests are described and placed in context in order to evaluate claims and criticisms that are commonly made. Tests are described as samples of behavior and hence subject to sampling errors. Much of the debate is dominated by emotion and prejudices. There is very little empirical evidence about…

Based on the assumption that more affluent colleges can attract more able students, a study was undertaken to find exceptions to this rule. It looked for affluent colleges that are relatively unselective and less affluent colleges that are selective. The purpose was to understand how college characteristics are related to selectivity. A…

THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE INITIAL VALIDATION OF PERFORMANCE TESTS OF TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS--USING PUPIL GAINS AS THE CRITERION OF EFFECTIVENESS--AND THE STEPS TAKEN IN RECOGNITION OF THE PROPRIETY OF SUCH MEASURES ONLY IF ALL TEACHERS ARE TEACHING FOR THE SAME OBJECTIVES. AS A FIRST STEP, IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT A VALID PERFORMANCE TEST OF…

Equal educational opportunity is the springboard for equal opportunity and is the hope of blacks, other minorities, and whites for fair participation in the economic marketplace. Standardized tests frequently contain a cultural bias that mitigates against black students, thus presenting a barrier to higher education. In many places, competency…

The National Education Association (NEA) opposes the use of standardized, norm-referenced tests of intelligence, achievement, and aptitude, citing problems with their substance, structure, administration, and use. NEA suggests five alternatives: (1) performance contracts; (2) teacher-student and teacher-parent-student interviews; (3)…

Three assumptions underlying the use of norm referenced tests are examined: (1) that expressing treatment effects in a standard score metric permits aggregation of effects across grades; (2) commonly used standardized tests are sufficiently comparable to permit aggregation of results across tests; and (3) the summer loss of achievement observed in…

AN EXPERIMENT SOUGHT TO DETERMINE WHETHER SPECIFICALLY SELECTED READING MATERIALS AND SPECIALLY DEVISED INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY WOULD MOTIVATE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED COLLEGE FRESHMEN AT A PREDOMINATELY NEGRO COLLEGE TO IMPROVE THEIR READING AND WRITING SKILLS, AND WHETHER THE EXPERIMENTAL STUDENTS WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVE AT A HIGHER LEVEL…

THE FLANAGAN APTITUDE CLASSIFICATION TEST, THE GORDON OCCUPATIONAL CHECK LIST, THE STANFORD ACHIEVEMENT TEST, THE PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES TEST, AND THE GORDON SURVEY OF INTERPERSONAL VALUES WERE ADMINISTERED IN A PILOT STUDY UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF A LARGER STUDY DESIGNED TO DEFINE MORE EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTS FOR IDENTIFYING VOCATIONALLY TALENTED…

INFORMATION ON THE BACKGROUND AND ATTITUDES OF AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 191 HIGH-POTENTIAL, LOW-ACHIEVING 10TH-GRADE STUDENTS WAS SUPPLIED TO THEIR TEACHERS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THIS INFORMATION ON THE STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE. TEACHERS OF STUDENTS (114) IN A QUASI-CONTROL GROUP WERE INFORMED THAT THEIR PUPILS HAD TESTED AS UNDERACHIEVERS, BUT…

It is unsafe to estimate achievement test norms for fall testing by linear interpolation between norms for the previous spring testing and norms for the following spring. Second grade students were tested in reading and arithmetic in the fall and in the spring to provide pre-test and post-test data for evaluation of academic growth. Three…

Following their first year of advanced study, two samples of students were polled. Study one analyzed the attitudes of 4,248 studnets toward the admission test they had taken: Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business, or the Miller…

The results obtained by three test administration modes were examined with a focus upon systematic bias due to lack of standardization of test administration procedures. The My Class Inventory was administered to ninety classrooms of fifth grade students in a large suburban school district. The 45 items on the inventory are distributed over five…

The project reviewed, tested, and analyzed the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute's (NOCTI) test series (written and performance for skilled occupations), using a sample of 16 examinations, to determine their appropriateness for use by the State of Georgia in their selection and certification of vocational and technical educators.…