Seventh-grade science students (n=22) wrote prompted essays, compare-contrast essays, and traditional end-of-chapter criterion-referenced tests. Results indicated that essay tests may be highly sensitive to instructional content and prompt design, and the validity of essays as measures of content learning relates more to goals of instruction than…

Test specifications need to take a middle road so that they are not so general that instructional targeting is impossible and not so specific that only unitary assessment targets are fostered. Using illustrative sample items provides a good means of communicating the items eligible to be tested. (SLD)

Presents data from validation study of American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency (OPI). Distinctness of OPI ratings from scores generated by Test of English as a Foreign Language and one other examination is assessed on basis of comparisons among 70 sets of scores from students of English as Second Language who…

Explores the implications for student behavior of different standards. Shows that competition between students does stimulate academic effort provided students are appropriately rewarded for achieving and argues that stratifying students into groups in which each has a chance for success may be preferred to the setting of a single national…

Cohen and Hyman's response contains several misunderstandings of the original article by Mehrens and Kaminski. One frequently wishes to make inferences to a domain from a test, but teaching a specific performance and testing for that performance does not allow for a domain inference. (SLD)

Sixty teachers responded to questions about the permissibility of 51 possible test modifications for pupils with disabilities on South Carolina-mandated criterion-referenced tests. Results indicated that teachers were not very knowledgeable about which modifications are allowed, and with few exceptions, special educators were no more informed than…

Describes a four-tier model for designing and developing practice and assessment in computer-based training. Topics include teaching versus assessing; levels of knowledge; taxonomy levels and intended learning outcomes; and time and cost constraints that result in criterion-referenced tests being most widely used. (Author/LRW)

Examination of participation and accommodation policies of all states revealed that in most states the Individualized Education Program team is central in deciding the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Testing accommodations are commonly allowed, although there is considerable variability. States generally offer…

In the literature, many studies indicate that concept maps as a tool to facilitate learning are effective and robust. However, there is limited research on the appropriate use of concept mapping strategies regarding their effectiveness in facilitating the achievement of specific learning objectives. This study attempts to examine the instructional…

The appropriateness of using time limits when measuring students' competence is questionable. This study assessed whether students who had failed the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) could improve their performance if they were allowed additional time on retaking the test. Subjects were 641 students who took the CLAST from fall 1982…

Investigates the effectiveness of an individualized approach to an introductory college chemistry course, including a computer-managed instructional system, and its effect on student attitude. Description of the Individual Learning System Chemistry course; procedures and results of the study are also presented. (HM)

Evaluation of the cumulative files of 143 severely disabled students (ages 6 to 20 years) in five school districts indicated: (1) a lack of appropriate technically adequate norm-referenced tests, (2) technical adequacy not a major determinant in test selection, and (3) less frequent use (than expected) of criterion-referenced and adaptive behavior…

Describes an installation of Comprehensive Instructional Management System (CIMS), a management information system for the instruction of mathematics in a New York school system. Suggests that CIMS has yielded dramatic gains in mathematics performance. (PK)

The article describes Data-Pac (Daily Teaching and Assessment for Primary Aged Children), materials which assess student performance in reading, mathematics, handwriting, and spelling present a selection of sequenced teaching objectives for an individualized program. Materials reflect the concepts of criterion-referenced assessment, direct…

Features 2 of 12 exemplary math and science programs identified by educational groups. Washington School District, Phoenix, Arizona, improved student achievement in science by hands-on laboratory experience and creative staff use. Manchester, Connecticut, elementary students raised mathematics scores thorough an activities-based curriculum with…