Talent searches for seventh and eighth graders have extensive empirical support, and the model has been successfully extended to elementary students. Research has focused on participants earning high scores on above-level tests, however, not typical participants. Here, 597 families and 93 schools that participated in the Carnegie Mellon Institute…

This study was an investigation into the relative predictive abilities of two types of test anxiety measures. Galvanic skin response (GSR) levels obtained during achievement testing and a self-report measure of test anxiety, the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC), were used as predictors of IQ and achievement test performances of 119 fifth and…

Investigated were the effects of test anxiety, success-fail experiences, and social reinforcement on the aspiration level of third and fourth grade subjects (Ss) in a suburban school system. Data were sought on whether high test anxiety (HTA) children would have lower aspiration levels than low test anxiety (LTA) children. Also studied were the…

This study tests the appropriateness of Torrance's assumptions of trait independence and the combinability of measures (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) with respect to the scoring of the tests for a younger population and estimates the homogeneity of the scores. The sample consisted of 128 elementary school children. Results indicate that…

This document describes the North Carolina Open-Ended Assessment for grades 4 and 8 and presents results for the 2000-2001 administration. The assessment emphasizes higher level thinking skills and requires students to apply or demonstrate skills and knowledge beyond the recall level on challenging subject matter. The open-ended assessments were…

In August 1998, the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina, adopted a goal statement that specified that by 2003, 95% of students tested would be at or above grade level as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) tests at grades 3 and 8. This report defines that goal operationally and defines the terms used to describe…

Disabled and nondisabled fifth graders completed a standardized achievement test under timed and untimed conditions to examine the effect of speededness on test performance. Results indicated no difference in test speededness for the two groups nor showed that the groups were differentially affected when the amount of speededness was reduced. (SM)

The specific intention of this study was to determine whether samples of disadvantaged students showed positive self-images (as had been shown by some of previous researches) and whether these are maintained when disadvantaged children move out of their neighborhood schools to the more integrated environment of the high school. Seven hundred and…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory English Language and Concepts Program for Spanish Speaking Children (LCS) is designed to help Spanish speaking children produce and comprehend English language skills required in early elementary grades. The tryout exercised, under standard school conditions, the materials and procedures of the LCS instructional…

This report contains summaries of the results from the third administration of the fourth and sixth grade science and social studies portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). These results are part of a long-term effort to gather data on the educational progress of Delaware students and to use the data to inform decisions about…

The equivalence of multiple-choice (MC) and constructed response (discrete) (CR-D) response formats as applied to mathematics computation at grade levels two to six was tested. The difference between total scores from the two response formats was tested for statistical significance, and the factor structure of items in both response formats was…

The North Carolina Writing Assessment, which is part of the state's End-of-Grade testing program, requires students in grades 4 and 7 to write essays in response to a standardized prompt. This report contains results for the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). Fourth grade writing assessment scores across North Carolina rose in 1999, and in…

This study determined how well parents of fourth- and fifth-grade students remembered the norm groups and standardized test results reported to them in parent-teacher conferences. Findings indicated considerable misunderstanding and erroneous perceptions held by parents about test results from the test interpretations made by elementary school…

Investigates the effect of test familiarization, practice, and coaching upon the test performance of 10- to 11-year-old British school children. Explains there were two conditions: (1) children had three hours of coaching before test taking; and (2) children received coaching after taking three tests. Includes references. (CMK)

The 12 chapters of this special issue focus on national findings and analyses from five Western European countries that participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an international comparative study of mathematics and science achievement. Focuses on populations of 9- and 13-year olds in England, Germany, Sweden,…