This paper studied whether or not elementary school classroom teachers in a large urban midwestern school district were able to distinguish appropriate from inappropriate testing practices in a large-scale mandated program. Fifty of 62 teachers and paraprofessionals in 2 elementary schools completed the Teacher Assessment Preparation Practices…

The validity of grades given by secondary school teachers was studied. Two teacher-originated measures of performance and one independent standardized measure of achievement were examined. The teacher-originated grades were final examination grades (FINALs) and end of the semester marks (MARKs) for over 40 courses at all secondary levels. The…

This study involved the assessment of classroom teachers' standardized and mastery program testing needs and proficiencies by a random sample of Ohio principals and supervisors (N=586). A total of 229 supervisors, 313 building principals, and 44 individuals in related supervisory roles was used. The findings from the investigation support the…

Inconsistencies develop in the educational system both because teachers receive "mixed signals" and because theory and practice become discrepant, a situation which creates dilemmas in language assessment. Some current dilemmas include: (1) the difficulty in determining whether teacher-made and standardized tests measure what they are supposed to;…

A study was made to determine characteristics of teacher-composed classroom tests, with emphasis placed on describing the levels of knowledge addressed by the test items. In this preliminary investigation, 19 mathematics and 16 science teachers working in 4 high schools in a mixed suburban/rural school district were asked to: (1) complete a brief…

A discussion of second language testing focuses on the need for collaboration among researchers in second language learning, teaching, and testing concerning development of context-appropriate language tests. It is argued that the nature of the proficiency construct in language is not constant, but that different linguistic, functional, and…

This paper presents a summary of findings from a review of approximately 225 studies addressing the knowledge and skills of classroom teachers for kindergarten through grade 12 related to the development and use of teacher-made tests. The findings from the review suggest that little change in teachers' testing competence has occurred in the…

In order to further existing knowledge about classroom testing practices, this study surveyed Ohio supervisors' and principals' perceptions of beginning teachers' needs for and proficiency in selected testing and evaluation competencies. Respondents considered typical beginning elementary and secondary teachers, rather than teachers of special…

The extent to which principals (n=313), supervisors (n=273), and teachers (n=313) agreed in their assessments of classroom teachers' testing proficiencies was studied in the Ohio public schools. There were 122 elementary and 191 secondary school teachers in the teacher sample. The validity of these perceptions was determined by a direct assessment…

A total of 326 public school teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 responded to a survey about teacher-made tests, testing practices, and the availability of testing resources and guidelines. Testing practices and preferences were found to vary significantly by grade level, subject area, and length of teaching experience. School testing…

This paper summarizes some of the issues involved in educational testing. First, it describes four of the fundamental characteristics of tests: whether they are measures of aptitude or achievement, whether they require students to produce or just recognize the best answer, whether they are interpreted in relationship to the scores of other…

The degree to which performance assessments developed for the classroom demonstrated the principles of quality assessment was explored. Performance assessments were studied in the schools of St. Charles Parish (Louisiana), a district that is implementing outcome based education (OBE). The sample consisted of 92 performance assessments submitted by…

Locally developed occupational tests were administered to 16- and 17-year-olds in a government-sponsored vocational education program in the United Kingdom over a six-month period in 1984. Job skills were tested in two occupational areas: use of a micrometer and invoice completion. Some performance tests were designed by researchers and some by…

Before an item bank is constructed, several curriculum and testing considerations should be addressed. Such issues include the number of students enrolled in the selected subject area; number of desired objectives and items per objective; method of storing the items; and how and when to train how many teachers in item writing. The following steps…

This quasi-experiment was designed to assess Robert Slavin's challenge to research on the effects of mastery learning on student achievement in algebra. Focus was on determining if there would be a difference in mathematics achievement between an experimental group (EG) of students whose initial cognitive entry skills were enhanced and who were…