The "Mental Measurements Yearbook" (MMY) series has provided researchers and practitioners with availability and evaluative information about commercially available English-language tests for over 50 years. However, two myths exist that are believed by some users of these resources. The first myth is that there are some minimum quality…

In this discussion of whether youth fitness tests should be evaluated with norm-referenced standards or criterion-referenced standards, it is pointed out the the suitability of the test depends upon the purpose for which the test is administered. A high level of physical fitness is linked with health, at least in adults, which suggests that…

The relevance of testing to curriculum is measured by the closeness of fit between test items and major program objectives. In this paper two procedures for analyzing the curriculum/test overlap are compared. The first method obtains a detailed analysis of a priority area of the curriculum. The process brings the curriculum into alignment with the…

The innovators of a functional level testing program must make decisions in the context of situational factors. There are several decision points involving the important elements of a testing program. Establishing the need for functional level testing is the first decision to be made. A systematic examination of in-level test data will document…

The effects of students taking different levels of the same standardized achievement test were assessed by administering two levels of the same test to each student. The functional level of the test was taken by all students. The second level of testing was randomly assigned at the adjacent higher or lower level of the test. Functional level…

Guidelines for evaluating criterion-referenced tests and test manuals are proposed and applied to a sample of popular commercially published tests. The well-known Test Standards published by a joint committee of professional societies is helpful, though not completely applicable, and was used together with other sources in the preparation of an…

Noting that the purpose of testing and test validity, reliability, norms, and usefulness should be primary considerations in choosing a reading test, this paper is intended to serve as a guide in test selection. The document provides a checklist for collecting the information necessary for selecting a test, and brief overviews of five reading…

Forty-six tests from the Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests, published by the Educational Testing Service, were used in an investigation of the factor structure of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The overall kit contains 72 fairly short tests that have been developed to serve as markers for 23 factors that appear in the…

Improved communication and cooperation between test publishers and school systems is essential for solving major test problems. Test-curriculum matching, test equating, and inappropriate use of grade equivalent scores are major problem areas. The degree to which a standardized test yields information relevant to what the system is trying to teach…

Developmental screening is a brief survey of a child's level of functioning in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, cognitive abilities, speech and language (communication), social and emotional development, and sensory functioning. Screening differs from assessment, which is conducted after screening and may mean either a diagnostic…

The objectives of this program evaluation were to gather information and normative data about the students referred for psychoeducational evaluation; to determine the diagnostic profile of students referred for special education; and to use the information gathered to determine future program direction and possible program modifications. Students…

Analyses of student responses to Introductory Psychology test questions were discussed. The publisher supplied a two thousand item test bank on computer tape. Instructors selected questions for fifteen item tests. The test questions were labeled by the publisher as factual or conceptual. The semester course used a mastery learning format in which…

This document presents instructor's materials for a unit on use of tests and measures for conducting needs assessment. It also contains material for 11 transparencies and 4 exhibits (list of 20 informal measures; tips on selecting and using tests; tips on selecting measures; and tips on conducting the interview). It is assumed that needs…

Inspired by four recent decisions to change achievement tests used in the Austin Independent School District, the separate forms used and procedures followed have been combined into a systematic approach intended for use in future achievement test selections. A rating scale (Attachment 1) was developed to expedite a systematic comparison among…

This document is a training module designed to familiarize practicing school psychologists and school psychology students with the field of criterion-referenced measurement and recent developments within the field. The introduction gives reasons for the need for criterion-referenced testing as opposed to norm-referenced tests which include legal…