A study was undertaken to develop valid and reliable test instruments for mildly mentally handicapped students enrolled in consumer and homemaking subject matter areas--child development/parenting, nutrition, and consumer education. Following a literature search and identification of subject matter concepts, a pool of four-option multiple-choice…

The long-term stability of students' evaluations of instructional effectiveness was investigated. The focus was on the extent and nature of realtionships between end-of-term and retrospective ratings. Ratings given by alumni one year after program completion were compared with ratings given by these individuals in 85 undergraduate and graduate…

College applicants taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) were surveyed regarding the tests, college admission in general, and the communications received concerning the test and their scores. Separate questionnaires were administered before taking the SAT or TSWE, after taking the test, and after…

The following papers are presented in the conference proceedings: (1) "Development and Current Use of the FSI Oral Interview Test," by H. Sollenberger; (2) "Interview Testing in Non-European Languages," by W. Lovelace; (3) "Measuring Second Language Speaking Ability in New Brunswick's Senior High Schools," by M.…

The feasibility of criterion referenced testing is held to be dependent on the tenability of two postulates: (1) that bias can be controlled in a principled manner from one test to the next; and (2) that one mental process measured by such tests may lawfully interact with another. Without the first postulate, criterion scores could not be…

Student assessment procedures used by the University of Mid-America/State University of Nebraska (UMA/SUN) for its first two televised courses, Introductory Psychology and Accounting I, are presented in this report. Included are descriptions of various experiments in producing test items, a report on the construction of tests from the items, and a…

Nineteen research reports and summaries of projects studying law school admission and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) are presented. These research projects were supported by the Law School Admission Council between 1975 and 1977. A subject and an author index, covering this and the previous two volumes (including research conducted from 1949…

A synthetic performance test is a job performance test that has been degraded to some degree in the range of tasks covered or in the fidelity of stimulus/response features. Since further development is needed before synthetic performance testing is valid and efficient, this research project focused on three objectives: to (1) identify problems…

A study was commissioned by a large petrochemical concern in order to validate professional degrees as a job entry requirement. The investigations considered two issues: (1) "Are activities performed by professionals (chemists and engineers) measurably different from the activities of subordinate technical personnel?" and "What…

Traditionally, the use of control groups, regression discontinuity/projection, or norm referenced models has been advocated for educational program evaluation. The small numbers of and the heterogeneous characteristics of severely and profoundly handicapped make these evaluation methods inappropriate for this population subgroup. Furthermore, no…

During an extensive inservice program, teachers and aides in 20 kindergarten and first grade Follow Through Classrooms were observed for mastery of the Direct Instruction Model. Two trained observers used the Direct Instruction Supervisor Code to record behavior in the fall, winter, and spring. Subjects were observed while teaching a 12 minute…

The final chapter of a seven-section report that examined the assessment of occupational competence, this chapter explores the key patterns and commonalities that have emerged from the study of occupational competency assessment. The chapter begins with a synthesis of the state of the art of competency definition and measurement under four topic…

AS SHOWN IN TWO STUDIES INVOLVING U.S. NAVY ELECTRONICS TRAINEES AND IN ONE INVOLVING STUDENTS IN AN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY COURSE, MINIATURE LEARNING SITUATIONS CAN BE USED TO PREDICT CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE. WHEN A SINGLE PROGRAM IS USED TO OBTAIN A MEASURE OF LEARNING ABILITY, THE COMBINATION OF THE RESULTING GAIN MEASURES OF LEARNING ABILITY…

THE MAJOR PROBLEM FACING EDUCATION, ACCORDING TO THIS REVIEW OF THE CONFERENCE, IS TO DEVELOP THE MOST EFFECTIVE LEARNING PROGRAMS FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH, WHICH SHOULD BE EVALUATED SCIENTIFICALLY. RIGOROUS STUDY IS NEEDED OF SUCH ISSUES AS (1) THE NATURE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PROGRAM FOR THE DISADVANTAGED LEARNER, (2) THE ASSESSMENT OF THE BASIC…

CLASSES IN BASIC EDUCATION AND ENGLISH FOR FOREIGN-SPEAKING PERSONS, FUNDED BY THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT (EOA), WERE BEGUN IN JANUARY 1965 IN ADULT DAY SCHOOLS IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FOR MEN AND AFDA MOTHERS, WHO TESTED AT LESS THAN 8TH-GRADE LEVEL. WELFARE PAYMENTS WERE CONTINUED AND CASH REIMBURSEMENTS AND CHILD CARE PROVIDED FOR MOTHERS.…