ERIC Number: ED262040
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1984-Apr
Pages: 21
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Content Considerations vs. Growth in Achievement Testing: Hobson's Choice?
Diamond, Esther E.
The problem of measuring growth across the target grade and, typically, the two adjacent grades, concerns most developers of standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests, particularly at the item selection stage. Opinion is divided on whether to retain or drop items that do not get easier from grade to grade. The controversy has focused on whether test design should be guided mainly be test theory or by instructional content, with the latter viewpoint recently gaining strength. Trial test items from a new standardized achievement test battery, the survey of Basic Skills, were selected. The items covered a number of grade levels and content areas, seemed well constructed, showed good discrimination difficulty, but did not show grade-to-grade growth. These items were examined in an attempt to discover which kinds of items did not show grade-to-grade-growth; they were categorized according to curriculum content and grouped by grades 1-2, 2-3, 5-6, 8-10, and 11-12. It was concluded that the test developer's choice between measuring important content and showing growth from grade to grade is still difficult. In selecting the best available items, based on multiple criteria, one dimension is occasionally sacrificed in order to accommodate the other. (Author/GDC)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A