Although effective and efficient assessment procedures are crucial to the success of organizational training programs, the tests used for both student and program evaluation are often developed by instructional designers (IDS) and subject matter experts (SMEs) with little formal training in test development. This paper summarizes the major…

Discrepancies among the standards produced by different criterion-referenced standard-setting techniques may be the result of a failure to adequately define the minimally competent candidate. Current research in this area is reviewed in terms of three categories: studies in which no formal assistance in conceptualization is given to judges,…

Intended to provide a broad introduction to the subject of student assessment, this booklet begins by discussing the role of assessment in any systematic approach to course or curriculum design and explains the difference between assessment and evaluation. Four basic features of a good student assessment procedure are then discussed, i.e.,…

This paper evaluates the magnitude of the total error in estimates of the difference between an examinee's domain score and the cutoff score. An observed score based on a random sample of items from the domain, and an estimated cutoff score derived from a judgmental standard setting procedure are assumed. The work of Brennan and Lockwood (1980) is…

A systematic approach for assessing language competencies of bilingual students is developed. Two issues are clarified. First, the issue of examining separately the four language skills is looked at, as well as the need to consider other related factors including cognitive functions operative in language processing, affective forces, and…

Criterion-referenced evaluation (CRE) describes achievement in performance terms, whereas norm-referenced evaluation (NRE) compares the performance of one individual to that of others with respect to a given evaluation instrument. Vocational educators who base their programs on behaviorism commonly evaluate student performance from a CRE…

Describes how one small school district developed performance objectives and wrote their own criterion-referenced reading tests to evaluate kindergarten and first grade children in a reading program supplimentally funded by the state. (TO)

The validity and dependability of functional competency tests for adults are examined as they relate to the information needs of instructional decision makers. Test data from the Adult Performance Level (APL) Program (funded by the U.S. Office of Education at the University of Texas at Austin) is used to illustrate key points. In the discussion of…

It is usually assumed that the procedures followed in developing criterion-referenced (CR) educational achievement tests ensure their content validity. This assumption is reasonable for the class of "domain-specified" CR tests, in which the item domain is completely specified by item generation rules. However, most CR tests are of the…

Resulting from a special study institute sponsored by the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, the workshop coordinator's kit (third in a series of inservice teacher training materials) focuses on designing criterion measures. Outlined are instructions to the coordinator, materials needed, and discussion questions. Also provided is the script…

Science process skills considered important in making decisions and solving problems include: observing, classifying, measuring, using numbers, using space/time relationships, communicating, predicting, inferring, manipulating variables, making operational definitions, forming hypotheses, interpreting data, and experimenting. This 60-item test,…

A project was conducted to develop a criterion-referenced student testing program for secondary home economics (consumer education) in South Carolina. Procedures used to develop the test included the following: (1) the content elements of the consumer education curriculum were identified; (2) each content element was classified into the type and…

This paper presents the interim results of a set of studies undertaken to develop a much needed methodology for establishing content validity in domain-referenced achievement tests. The study results are presented in the context of the larger issue of the improvement of test design. School teachers, administrators and graduate students were…

A study was conducted to compare two methodologies for establishing hierarchical relationships--the Dayton and Macready model and the White and Clark procedure--using criterion referenced test data. Several phonics and structural analysis skills were selected from a reading skills battery. The opinions of reading "experts" were solicited in order…