One aspect of the development of a performance assessment is addressed--the field testing of the tasks. In a performance-based assessment, the tasks must allow each examinee a fair and equal opportunity to give the best possible demonstration of his or her ability, and must elicit a performance sample that enables scorers to evaluate each examinee…

The Chapter 1 Corrective Mathematics program provided supplementary, individualized instruction in mathematics using both face-to-face instruction and computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for eligible students attending nonpublic schools in New York City. The objective for the 1988-89 Corrective Mathematics Program was that students would achieve…

A 3-part test measures the geography knowledge, skills, and understanding of secondary level students. Part 1, map skills and location, contains 20 questions involving the use of three maps: an imaginary sketch map, a contour map, and a political map of the world. Part 2 consists of 20 questions covering physical geography. Students analyze…

Because existing standardized college examination tests did not accurately measure the potential for learning of bilingual/bicultural populations, the Border Community College Consortium began in 1971 to develop two standardized tests to address the strengths and weaknesses of Mexican American students in writing, reading, and listening to the…

To permit local districts to exercise their option to use standardized tests for state-mandated evaluations, a test rating form was developed. A key concern was the percentage of state approved reading and mathematics skills measured by a test, rather than the test's value for other uses. Other content concerns were readability and cultural and…

The Guidance Services and Research and Development Departments of the College Board coordinated an investigation of the results of a national high school survey. This survey, administered in 2000, follows a similar, large-scale survey of high schools in 1993 by the College Board. The current research report is designed to provide the reader with…

The Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) is a behavioral rating instrument for use in evaluating social skills and problem behavior patterns of preschool- and kindergarten-aged children, aged three through six. It is a norm-referenced, standardized instrument developed specifically for use in assessing young children in a variety of…

This paper examines: (1) what those who directly employ and educate America's students after they leave high school think of the quality of the U.S. elementary and secondary schools; (2) what recent students and their parents think of the quality of the education they or their children received; and (3) what a cross section of Americans think…

Teacher attitudes toward the high school proficiency test were identified through a 15-question survey distributed to 39 secondary school teachers representing various demographic school populations. The subjects were selected from five graduate education classes and a small city high school. The median number of years of teaching experience was…

The papers in this collection reflect topics of major interest to members of the measurement and testing communities. Symposium 1, "Beyond the Wall Chart: Indicators and School Ranking," includes the following papers: (1) "What Our 17-Year-Olds Know: One District's Assessment" (L. D. Wilkinson and D. L. Galindo); (2)…

A guide to the implementation of the Entry Level Skills Program (ELSP) and a conceptual framework for evaluation research is presented. Attention is directed to strategies for the attainment of goals and management of the ELSP project, which is a developmental program for freshmen students who have not acquired the full range or level of cognitive…

Materials concerning the 1978 national college entrance examination in the People's Republic of China are presented. This was the first nationally standardized test taken in China since the Cultural Revolution began in 1966. The examination contained tests in eight subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, politics, history, geography, Chinese…

Two reports on the current status and future trends of state assessment programs are presented. Among the results summarized for 1977-1978 and also presented in chart form for the 41 states which administer testing programs are: 19 programs are mandated by state legislatures; 22 programs test all students in the grades or ages assessed;…

This document contains sample test items from the Florida College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), an achievement test that measures communication and computation skills that students should have acquired on completing their sophomore year in college. The sample items in this document test the set of skills that were revised in September 1990…

A random sample of the records of all juniors and seniors tested under the American College Testing Program (ACT) during 1986-87 was selected to assess the relationships among the number and type of college preparatory courses students take, their grades in those courses, and their ACT test scores. Focus was on the impact of differential…