The proposition, "That measurement issues in competency-based educational programs (CBE) are not different from those in other kinds of testing (NCBE)" must be declared false. (1) Measurement in CBE focuses on the present while NCBE measurement focuses on information needed for future planning. (2) CBE measurement starts with definitive statements…

For almost 20 years, the Portland public schools have maintained a testing program anchored in locally constructed tests. The district's newly developed tests are called goal-referenced tests, a version of criterion-referenced tests, that meet the district's purposes because they reflect what well-qualified teachers in the district believe should…

In determining how reliable is reliable enough and how much error can be tolerated in criterion-referenced testing, the following relationships hold: (1) the more specific an objective is, the fewer the items required to reliably measure it; (2) the more specific the objectives are, the more objectives required to cover a given span of the…

As change occurs in various health sciences programs, evaluational strategies should be developed so that adaptive decisions may be made. Evaluation models taking into account inputs, methodology, and outputs (Stake, 1967, and Astin and Panes, 1971) need examination. Alternative measurement instruments for formative and summative evaluations,…

Problems encountered in evaluating the effectiveness of an English elective program indicated the need for the development of a criterion-referenced diagnostic test for determining students' knowledge and understanding of certain basic language concepts in the field of English. A survey of 76 English elective programs throughout the United States…

A system for developing assessment-reteaching cycles referenced to instructional outcomes is projected to enhance the effectiveness of elementary school mathematics textbooks. Salient precycle and paracycle features of the system are outlined. Procedures and activities to set the stage for instructional cycling are described, such as: translating…

Investigated were the effects of two levels of penalty for incorrect responses on two dependent variables (a measure of risk-taking or confidence, based on nonsense items, and the number of response-attempts to legitimate items) for three treatment groups in a 2x3, multi-response repeated measures, multivariate ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) design.…

An instrument, combining the advantages of Piaget's individual concept assessment and criterion-referenced testing, was developed to test area conservation, area measurement and area subdivision of primary grade children. This Test of Intuitive Area Concepts was included with the Primary Mental Abilities spatial relations subtest and the Minnesota…

The present study chose as its focus one of the primary reasons of why aptitude-treatment interactions (ATI) are difficult to find: methodological problems in the measurement of aptitude itself. The aptitude selected for this study is sensory modality preferences. Three types of modality data were gathered: norm-referenced (Illinois Test of…

A collection is presented containing four papers dealing with the subject of criterion-referenced testing. This first paper deals with criterion-referenced tests utilizing norm-referenced test items. Aspects covered include a defense of norm-referenced and criterion referenced tests and a justification for the adaptation of norm-referenced test…

A reading priority program was established in Maryland with the following objectives for students: (1) following directions, (2) locating references, (3) personal development, (4) gaining information, and (5) using forms. A criterion-referenced testing program for evaluating the progress of students in reading is under development. Samples of test…

Fifty-three high school males took a minicourse on library usage. All were randomly assigned a topic and given response sheets requiring the use of dictionaries, encyclopedias, periodicals, and books. In a discussion session, all received instructional handouts. Students were assigned either to evaluating two peers' pretests (experimental) or…

Criterion-referenced measurement (CRM) has received increasing attention in regular education. However, it is in education for handicapped children that CRM's flexibility for individualization of both instruction and evaluation become even more fully realized. Research is described on one of the first CRM systems (Individual Achievement Monitoring…

New strategies for evaluation criterion referenced measures (CRM) are discussed. These strategies examine the following issues: (1) the use of normed referenced measures (NRM) as CRM and then estimating the reliability and validity of such measures in terms of variance from an arbitrarily specified criterion score, (2) estimation of the…

A distinction is made between reliability of measurement and reliability of classification; the "criterion-referenced reliability coefficient" describes the former. Application of this coefficient to the probability distribution of possible scores for a single student yields a meaningful way to describe the reliability of a single score. (Author)