Offers practical tips on how teachers can determine whether classroom tests are actually measuring what they are designed to measure. Discusses criterion-related validity, construct validity, and content validity. Demonstrates how to determine the degree of content validity a particular test may have for a particular course or unit. (Author/DH)

Examines the extent to which grades derived from a conventional norm-referenced examination can be interpreted in terms of criterion-referenced performance assessments of different abilities and skills. Results suggest that performance is more affected by test format and subject matter than by the intellectual abilities tested by them. (JOW)

Argues that customized criterion-referenced tests produced for use by particular school systems are preferable to "off-the-shelf" criterion-referenced tests or standardized norm-referenced tests, and briefly discusses some of the problems related to developing effective customized criterion-referenced tests. (JG)

The paper discusses the key criteria of good language tests: practicality, validity, and reliability.

Report discusses the construction of criterion- referenced tests and comments on future work with criterion-referenced tests. (Editor)

A description of a method used with criterion referenced tests which is designed to reduce guessing. (HB)

Author claimed and defended the position that none of the tests used in educational measurement is optimum for its role in program assessment. As well, he described the type of test he thought best for the task of assessment. (Author/RK)

This article investigated the design of appropriate measures to assess the outcomes of schooling. (Author/RK)

A method is described for choosing sample sizes when the domain to be sampled consists of a finite set of sentences and the purpose is to construct a test to assess the comprehension or the readability of written discourse. The testing method is that proposed in Bormuth's work on transformational analysis within a criterion-referenced measurement…

The domain-referenced approach to assessment results in a set of tests that are closely linked to theoretical propositions about aspects of reading comprehension. In this paper, the definition, validation, and use of domains are described, and one strategy for developing domain-referenced measures is proposed. The strategy involves identifying a…

This paper describes three classification criterion tasks and the rationale for their selection. A set of parameters is defined and then used to describe the item format for the test. The test format and content domain are presented and discussed. Sample testing directions and materials are appended. (Author)

Procedures for establishing standards and determining the number of items needed in criterion-referenced measures are reviewed. The discussion of setting a passing score is organized around five factors: performance of others, item content, educational consequences, psychological and financial costs, and measurement error. Classical test theory,…

The measurement of writing offers a challenge to test developers due to controversy over the use of objective tests versus compositions. A discussion of a basic skills writing test developed in Los Angeles County offers insight into the issues of which competencies should be tested and how these competencies would be measured. (DF)