Great teachers recognize great assessments. As policy and education leaders work to make sure state tests are measuring the problem-solving, writing, and critical-thinking skills students need for success, they should convene and rely on teachers to review test quality and help answer the question: Do the questions on our state test reflect…

We present the Electricity and Magnetism Conceptual Assessment (EMCA), a new assessment aligned with second-semester introductory physics courses. Topics covered include electrostatics, electric fields, circuits, magnetism, and induction. We have two motives for writing a new assessment. First, we find other assessments such as the Brief…

The Mathematics Fluency and Calculation Tests (MFaCTs) are a series of measures designed to assess for arithmetic calculation skills and calculation fluency in children ages 6 through 18. There are five main purposes of the MFaCTs: (1) identifying students who are behind in basic math fact automaticity; (2) evaluating possible delays in arithmetic…

Assessing students' emerging literacy skills is crucial for identifying areas where a child may be falling behind and can lead directly to an increased chance of reading success. The Waterford Assessment of Core Skills (WACS), a computerized adaptive test of early literacy for students in prekindergarten through 2nd grade, addresses this need.…

Several instruments previously validated for use in school library research were tested for their appropriateness in the context of public libraries' summer reading programs for youth. The researchers were also interested in whether the connection between perceived competence in one's own information skills and perceived competence in one's own…

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to develop an instrument that has scores that are valid and reliable for measuring students' attitudes toward fitness testing. Method: The method involved the following steps: (a) an elicitation study, (b) item development, (c) a pilot study, and (d) a validation study. The pilot study included 427…

The State of New York Agriculture Science Education secondary program is required to have a certification exam for students to assess their agriculture science education experience as a Regent's requirement towards graduation. This paper focuses on the procedure used to develop and validate two content sub-test questions within a…

A study was designed to examine a multidimensional measure of children's coping in the academic domain as part of a larger model of motivational resilience. Using items tapping multiple ways of dealing with academic problems, including five adaptive ways (strategizing, help-seeking, comfort-seeking, self-encouragement, and commitment) and six…

The New York City Department of Education's (DOE) annual survey of parents, students, and teachers is the largest of its kind in the United States. The DOE relies on the survey to identify schools' strengths and to target areas for improvement. School Survey scores, along with attendance, are also the only non-academic indicators used in the DOE's…

The legislative history of legislation concerning disclosure of standardized college admissions test items is reviewed, the effect of existing laws in California and New York is outlined, and public policy and legal questions leading to and resulting from the legislation are discussed. (MSE)

In the spring of 1986, New York City began using the Metropolitan Achievement Test-6 (MAT-6) series to assess achievement in mathematics as part of a continuing end-of-year testing program. During the first two years of the program, appropriate levels of the shelf version of MAT-6 (Forms L and M) were administered to second through eighth graders.…