Three basic areas of definition, measurement, and research, voiced as concerns by members of the National Council of Measurement in Education (NCME) to its Task Force on Measurement Problems in Competency-Based Programs, are used as an organizer for a sponsored symposia and the papers in this monograph. The problem of the definition of competency…

This publication was developed to provide factual information and interpretive commentary on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Reading, a federally funded survey of the educational attainments of representative samples of children and adults in the United States. It summarizes the context and results of the 1970-71 and 1974-75…

Implementation of the Proficiency Testing Program, adopted by the Idaho State Board of Education, is explained in the districts coordinator's manual. The tests are described as administered on a district optional basis to ninth grade students in the basic skills areas of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. Criterion referenced tests are…

Problems in constructing criterion referenced tests related to inadequate technical criteria, and guidelines for their solution are discussed. The need to select a well-defined domain of behaviors is emphasized as the key to test construction and to understanding students' test performance. Considerations must also be given to the most effective…

Several intermediate performance objectives and corresponding criterion measures are listed for each of eight terminal objectives for a basic welding course. The materials were developed for a 36-week (2 hours daily) course developed to teach the fundamentals of welding shop work, to become familiar with the operation of the welding shop…

Several intermediate performance objectives and corresponding criterion measures are listed for each of eight terminal objectives for a high school intermediate machine shop course. The materials were developed for a 36-week course (3 hours daily) designed to enable students to become familiar with the operation of machine shop equipment, to…

Several intermediate performance objectives and corresponding criterion measures are presented for each of five terminal objectives for a 12- to 18-week course designed to provide students in grades eight or nine with opportunities for exploring a broad range of child care, guidance, and service occupations. Major concepts include characteristics…

Several intermediate performance objectives and corresponding criterion measures are listed for each of three terminal objectives for an exploration of home furnishing, equipment, and services occupations course for eighth and ninth grade students. The materials were developed for a 12- to 18-week course designed to provide exploration…

The 1973 statewide (Maryland) educational accountability plan, for which this report was compiled, called for the development and establishment of statewide and local goals in reading, writing, and mathematics; a comprehensive and uniform statewide testing program; procedures for collecting data on student, home, community, and school…

This publication reports the results of an Australia-wide investigation of the literacy and numeracy skill attainment of children aged 10 and 14. The chapters present an overview and summary of the study and discuss children in special schools and special classes, the use of the mastery approach in the investigation, the mastery of reading and…

Two types of sensitivity indices were developed in this paper, one internal to the total test and the second external. To evaluate the success of these statistics the three criteria suggested for a satisfactory index of item quality were considered. The Internal Sensitivity Index appears to meet these demands. Certainly it is easily computed. In…

This paper reports findings of research done concerning the productivity of types of classroom reading instruction in a sample of New York State elementary classrooms. Data was gathered from approximately 5,800 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in five New York State school districts during the spring semester of the 1974-75 school year. The…

The DPI Criterion-Referenced Pre-Reading Screening Test is to be used as one means of identifying some strengths and weaknesses in certain areas of pre-reading skills. It is intended to be used as a screening instrument for beginning first graders. The areas of pre-reading skills to be screened are (1) auditory perception, (2) letter knowledge,…

The accountability movement in American education has received great clamors of attention in the past few years. This movement, in turn, suggests the need for particular data to inform responsible decision-making; the need for assessment instruments which can address the question of what is learned; and the need for strengthening the existing…

This study compares the effect of the objectives-based test collections of the Instructional Objectives Exchange (10X) on reading comprehension and word-attack skills of fifth-grade students in a basal reader program. The 10X, a nonprofit educational organization, was established in the late 1960s to provide educators with instructional materials…