In many African countries tests used as a selection examination for entrance to secondary and higher levels of education do not have content validity. The practices and problems of test development in Africa are discussed. The advantages of domain-referenced tests are examined. (RM)

Two studies examined the effect of making the correct answer of a multiple choice test item grammatically consistent with the item. American College Testing Assessment experimental items were constructed to investigate grammatical compliance to investigate grammatical compliance for plural-singular and vowel-consonant agreement. Results suggest…

Discusses how listening is now being tested as three separate abilities, how test validity is affected by administration factors, criticisms of listening skills tests currently available, and criteria for development of reliable and valid listening tests. (MBR)

Demonstrates that the reflection-impulsivity dimension is related to some reading tasks but not others. Finds in particular that not all word recognition tasks are affected by conceptual tempo. (FL)

On the basis of the characteristics of criterion-referenced tests, the contribution of German research to the development and application of criterion-referenced tests is discussed. (PN)

The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity of a classroom communication apprehension scale. Subjects were 196 high school students in Japan. The original English version of a classroom communication apprehension scale (M. R. Neer, 1987) consisted of 20 items representing 2 hypothesized dimensions of classroom communication…

Score comparability is important to those who take tests and those who use them. One important concept related to test score comparability is that of "equity," which is defined as existing when examinees are indifferent as to which of two alternate forms of a test they would prefer to take. By their nature, computerized adaptive tests…

This study explores the relative merits of a potentially useful item response theory (IRT) linking design: using a single set of anchor items with fixed common item parameters (FCIP) during the calibration process. An empirical study was conducted to investigate the appropriateness of this linking design using 6 groups of students taking 6 forms…

This report, requested by the Massachusetts Department of Education, addresses the issue of the format of native language assessments of students' educational achievement. There are two basic options when administering a translation or adaptation of a test in another language: one is to produce test booklets in both languages and then determine…

This directory describes tests available for use by psychologists, educators and human resource personnel in businesses. Each of the three main sections is divided into subsections. Psychology contains 21 subsections; Education, 49 subsections; and Business, 20 subsections. The tests within each subsection are listed alphabetically by title. Each…

This study compared college students who used the World Wide Web versus paper and pencil to respond to one of three surveys: the 1997 and 1999 Student Experiences Survey and 1998 University of Minnesota Graduate Survey. Students chose to respond by mail or via the Web. Researchers examined the proportion of students who used the Web versus those…

This booklet presents the Reading Framework for the 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2000 National Assessments of Educational Progress (NAEP), adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). The Framework contains the rationale for the aspects of reading assessed and criteria for development of the assessment. Developed through a national…

Responses to various fixed test-response formats were examined for "reliability" due to systematic error; Cronbach's alphas up to .67 were obtained. Of formats tested, four-point Likert Scales were least affected while forms of lines and faces were most problematic. Possible modification in alpha to account for systematic bias is…

Discusses the difference between communicative competence and linguistic performance. Describes the development, administration, and results of a three-part discrete point test based on rather specific definitions of communicative competence. (EKN)

Third grade children (n=24) who were administered the standard, simultaneous version of the Matching Familiar Figures test committed fewer errors when administered a sequential version of the same test than did subjects (n=24) who took the more difficult sequential version first. (PN)