This booklet is planned to help teachers, parents, students, and community members to understand concepts and research relating to testing in public schools. Three general uses--public access, accountability, and standards--relate to testing in its broadest conception. The major purposes of tests are discussed, as are some different types of…

The author contends that the crucial variable distinguishing two types of tests is the way in which the content domain is specified, rather than the use of norm-vs. criterion-referenced interpretations. Because some modes of content specification lead to specified domain and mastery interpretations, and some lead to open domains, the author…

The most significant findings and recommendations of the 1975 Oregon Statewide Reading Assessment are highlighted in this summary intended for a nontechnical audience. A criterion-referenced test was developed to test the reading achievement of fourth graders in the areas of word attack skills, comprehension skills, study skills and vocabulary…

Despite their advantages over other assessment techniques, current achievement and ability tests are not especially efficient sources of information for the range of educational decisions for which they are used and relied upon. Two major types of tests, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced, and two types of use, student evaluation and program…

A technique that can be used in the evaluation of program effectiveness focuses on differences between schools or programs at the item level rather than at the level of total test score. The technique was used to compare the results of norm and objective-reference mathematics achievement tests administered to Michigan fourth graders. (Author/JAC)

Extent of curriculum bias was analyzed using seven standardized and criterion-referenced reading achievement tests. Bias was examined relative to five commercial reading programs at the third-grade level. Results indicated that the degree of bias varied widely depending on the specific test and program used for reading instruction. (Author/ABB)

The causal effects of time spent in learning (TSL) and time needed for learning (TTL) on the reading and spelling achievement of 171 fourth and fifth grade students were investigated. TTL contributed significantly to achievement, and its direct effect was greater than TSL. Results also support a Carroll's learning model. (Author/BS)

One Midwestern state has chosen a model of state assessment in which local school districts are responsible for developing the strategies to measure and report their students' performance on state-adopted content standards. When students are not measured on common instruments, district accountability becomes an added challenge. This paper presents…

Different kinds of tests are given to determine student achievement. Standardized achievement tests are often used, but have many limitations. They may be useful in determining the content students should learn and its relevance for future learning and the curriculum. Criterion referenced tests eliminate a major weakness of standardized tests in…

Some unfinished issues relating to achievement test theory that seemed implicit in the basic idea of criterion-referenced testing are reviewed, recognizing their importance in current studies of authentic assessment and performance-based tests. The future of performance-based evaluation is explored. (SLD)

Debate about the levels-setting process for criterion-referenced tests of achievement is reviewed. An alternative framework is proposed for conceptualizing the problem and practice of setting performance standards on such tests. Standard setting is reconceptualized as the development, description, and implementation of reasonable rules for…

This booklet provides parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers with information about achievement testing which is relevant to their needs. The first section presents an overview of the current market for standardized achievement tests and provides key definitions, distinctions between ability and achievement testing, comparisons of…

In 1984 an evaluation team examined the Maryland Functional Testing Program (MFTP), a statewide competency-based, criterion-referenced testing program that was instituted to limit awarding of high school diplomas to those students who had earned scores above cut scores on a series of achievement tests. This article examines the procedures the…

The potential use of criterion referenced tests (CRT) and norm referenced tests (NRT) in the same testing program is discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of each are listed, and the best solution, a merging, is proposed. To merge CRTs and NRTs into an overall testing program, meaningful and useful to all levels, consideration must be given…

Cross-referenced to instructional objectives defined in a previous publication, (Guidelines to Mathematics, K-6), the Wisconsin Mathematics Test can be used to measure achievement gains over a given year, or to detect student strengths and weaknesses, by correlating missed items with the objectives. It is also possible to compare results on a…