In 1986, the Florida State Legislature passed a law requiring teachers to demonstrate knowledge of their subject areas before being granted teacher certification. The state also provided funding for developing subject area examinations. The generic procedures for developing these examinations are outlined. During the first phase of the project, an…

This paper presents six chapters that describe how statewide reading assessment is currently being performed and how the data are being used. The validity of statewide reading assessment instruments and the appropriate uses of statewide reading assessment data are explored. Several chapters discuss new ways in which some states conduct reading…

School culture has recently emerged as a framework for the study and interpretation of the structure and development of schools. This paper reviews a work culture productivity model and reports the development of a culture instrument. The School Work Culture Profile (SWCP) is a staff perceptions instrument on which school work culture is…

The fact that college grades are poor predictors of future job performance is a cause for concern. A more important issue is assessment, for course grades cannot measure many of the work-relevant skills that a college education provides. Selection tests are one effort to identify and establish those characteristics of applicants that predict…

This paper describes the development and application of an instrument to measure the relationships between acculturation, ethnicity, second language learning, self-esteem, and academic success among the Hmong student population in United States postsecondary schools. The instrument assessed seven dimensions of acculturation (behavioral, social,…

This book provides basic skills and knowledge about assessment so that teachers can expand their ability to deal with appraisal problems in their own settings. The first section deals with the basic principles of assessment. The second section concerns creating and applying assessment tools. The third section reviews issues in understanding and…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

Most studies of child and adolescent personality have identified three main types (resilients, overcontrollers, and undercontrollers) and further subtypes using Q sort methodology. This study investigated the generalizability of a personality typology by using cluster analysis on the Big-Five scale with adolescents between 12 and 16 years of age.…

This book synthesizes research findings on creativity and talent development. Part 1, "Definitions and Processes of Creativity," discusses the definition of creativity, creativity and psychology, federal definitions of giftedness and creativity, psychological research on creativity, traditional theories of the creative, common descriptions of the…

The level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computer adaptive tests (CATs) was compared to decisions based on paper-and-pencil tests. Subjects included 645 medical technology students from 238 educational programs across the country. The tests used in this study constituted part of the subjects' review for the certification…

A total of 948 minority children of 2-5 years of age from inner-city areas of Newark, New Jersey participated in a study that aimed to identify gifted preschool children. The study was designed to develop and validate a screening instrument and establish an enrichment program that would nurture the unique abilities of the gifted children. The…

This first test and technical manual explains the development, purpose, use, validity, and reliability of the criterion-referenced final examination for the Chemistry of Hazardous Materials course of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg (Maryland). Because of possible diversity in the testing knowledge and background of readers, the manual…

Work on the development of history performance assessments is described. So far, six complete sets of assessments in United States history have been developed as part of this project. Students are first assessed on their historical knowledge of the period through a short-answer test. They are then asked to write an essay explaining the positions…

A study evaluated the approach used for validation of job profiles for curriculum development in three health care programs in the Netherlands: dietetics, podotherapy, and activity therapy. It also evaluated the quality of these job profiles and the relation between process and product quality. The validation approach used was a practical…

From 1970 to 1985, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) underwent major modifications caused by: (1) the addition of the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) to the College Board's Admissions Testing Program (ATP); (2) the passage of test disclosure legislation; (3) the institution of test sensitivity reviews; and (4) the use of item response…