Finding, accessing, and determining the credibility of information are skills most people would deem necessary for the college educated person, if not the average citizen, to possess today. At the same time, educators, as well as constituents of educational institutions are asking for better and more sophisticated assessment instruments of…

This paper, as an illustration of the procedures involved in a cooperative effort, describes a project in which the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) designed and developed a minimum standards test in collaboration with a large urban school district in California. The activity described focuses on the writing sample included in the test. The…

The Maryland State Department of Education issued a request for proposals to develop a score reporting system for the Maryland Functional Testing Program. RMC Research Corporation conducted a literature review of extant literature and developed a national survey of non-norm-referenced test score reporting practices. This comprehensive analysis of…

This brief overview of minimum competency testing and disabled high school students discusses: the inclusion or exclusion of handicapped students in minimum competency testing programs; approaches to accommodating the individual needs of handicapped students; and legal issues. Surveys of states that have mandated minimum competency tests indicate…

A good applied performance test (APT) concentrates on measurable objectives which are relevant for today's society in general, for the local community, and for the students. APTs should be valid, objective/reliable, straightforward in format, simple to understand, and able to maintain student interest. Scoring procedures should be standardized and…

Experiences with competency testing at the elementary level in the area of English language are presented, as well as suggestions for improving the quality of competency tests. In order to modify curricula and requirements to meet the demands of assessment and to ensure sufficient student instruction, the following suggestions are made: (1)…

Presents information about the kind of competency testing being done, how educators view the testing movement, and how it is affecting teacher preparation programs. (SRT)

States that teachers must evaluate not only cognitive and psychomotor skills but also attitudes and perceptions. Cites five factors contributing to improved testing: (1) criterion-reference evaluation, (2) school effectiveness research, (3) minimum competency testing, (4) new concepts of student evaluation, and (5) better teacher-made tests. (CH)

Minimum competencies are being imposed on the schools by state legislators frustrated by declining academic achievement. Teachers must not allow this movement to engender a "teaching for the test" mentality. They must work for a balanced curriculum, good remedial programs, and competency tests which provide real feedback for teaching. (SJL)

Describes the test, The Degrees of Reading Power, developed by the New York State Education Department for use as a formalized "informal reading inventory." (MKM)

The process of setting performance standards must be examined within the particular context in which specific approaches have been used to construct or select the criterion performance measures being utilized. (Author/RLV)

Eleven judges representing 11 different geographic regions in the United States participated in a standard-setting session designed to determine the possibility of obtaining interjudge consensus and intrajudge consistency simultaneously. Each judge had experience in the field for which standards were being set. The judges rated 65 multiple-choice…

An empirical item characteristic curve shows the probability of a correct response as a function of the student's total test score. These curves can be estimated from large-scale pretest data. They enable test developers to select items that discriminate well in the score region where decisions are made. A similar set of curves can be used to…

Georgia's competency testing program has gained national recognition and has served as a model for other states planning such programs. The focus of this paper is on the Teacher Certification Test (TCT) in Administration and Supervision developed to conform to stringent legal and job-relatedness requirements. The test is required of educators…

This paper specifies the assessment of those spelling skills that are needed for effective writing by students in grades one through six. An introductory section provides background materials, including explanations of how the skill specifications were selected and how they are presented in this report. In the sections that follow the…