When student achievement is assessed, we seek to elicit a student's maximum performance -- a goal requiring the assumption that the student is fully engaged. Otherwise, to the extent that disengagement occurs, test performance is likely to suffer. Effectively managing test-taking disengagement requires an understanding of the testing conditions…

Assessments represent an important component of undergraduate courses because they affect how students interact with course content and gauge student achievement of course objectives. To make decisions on assessment design, instructors must understand the affordances and limitations of available question formats. Here, we use a crossover…

Multiple choice testing is a common but often ineffective method for evaluating learning. A newer approach, however, using Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF AT®, Epstein Educational Enterprise, Inc.) forms, offers several advantages. In particular, a student learns immediately if his or her answer is correct and, in the case of an…

This report on the 1977 mathematics assessment of British Columbian students in grades 4, 8, and 12 describes the item specification model; test administration procedures; results for each grade level; and overall results correlated to sex, mother tongue, and parental level of schooling. (SJL)

The theory and technology of item characteristic curve (ICC) response theory and adaptive testing were applied to judging individuals' competencies against a prespecified mastery level to determine whether each individual is a "master" or "nonmaster" of a specified content domain. Items from two conventionally administered mastery tests…

This publication presents assessments of trends in the educational achievement of elementary and secondary school students. In light of the heightened reliance on achievement tests a careful appraisal of recent trends in scores has important ramifications for educational policy. This study assesses test score trends and offers some insights on the…

This state assessment at the third-grade level is the first stage of a proposed three-year evaluation cycle of third, sixth, and ninth grades in North Carolina to aid personnel in making accurate decisions regarding improvement in the social studies curriculum. Students were randomly selected to represent the third-grade population in the state…

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention program for culturally deprived preschoolers living in a rural area. The subjects, 29 children between the ages of 3 years 10 months and 5 years 3 months, were administered a kindergarten readiness test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at the beginning of the school year and again at…