Students' test scores are influenced by their subject matter knowledge, their physical and emotional health, and their skill in the mechanics of test taking. Designed for use in the Detroit (Michigan) Public Schools, this document focuses on improving skills in the mechanics of test taking. The first section overviews strategies for…

When learning is taking place, students test their hypotheses and evaluate them, and modify their current theories on the basis of new information. This phenomenon is known as "hypothesis testing view" or "theory changes." Many students change their rules to another while they are taking a test. This study introduced a new…

The objectives for this study were to: (1) develop a valid, reliable measure of test-wiseness with equivalent forms for use with students in the health sciences; and (2) determine the level of test-wiseness of entering medical students. The test-wiseness areas included in this study were: similar options, umbrella term, item give-away, convergence…

This article discusses the validity issue in teacher-made tests. Seventh-grade students' comments about their responses to a test designed to illustrate faulty items suggests students are quite proficient in using secondary clues to figure out correct answers. Teacher comments suggest teachers are unaware they provide such clues. (Author/JAZ)

This document was designed and developed to supplement the "Mississippi Language Arts Framework 2000" and the Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) Teachers' Guide. This Intervention Guide is designed to help the teacher assess the progress of classes and individual students by assessment strand as reported in the SATP Class and SATP…

A group of eight educators and one law student discusses the most recent changes in the Scholastic Aptitude Test content and format, which will include a reasoning test and a battery of subject tests. Comments focus on general reactions, specific additions and deletions, test bias, implications for admissions, and coaching. (MSE)

Findings of studies examining the effects of presentation media on item characteristics are reviewed. The effect of medium of presentation independent of adaptive methodology in computer-assisted testing was studied through tests of 763 Marine trainees. Conditions necessary for score equivalence between item presentation media are described. (SLD)

Ability estimates yielded by the one- (1PL), two- (2PL), and three-parameter (3PL) models and the nominal response model (NRM) were compared with the number-right (NR) scoring model using items not susceptible to test-wiseness (NTW) and items susceptible to the ID1 test-wiseness strategy. These items were contained in grade 12 diploma examinations…

The authors investigated in this study the effects of two electronic notes conditions (complete vs. partial) and two testing conditions (immediate vs. delayed) on three types of tests (fact, structure, and application). A 2 x 2 factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) yielded no significant main effects for notes conditions on the fact…

This study was conducted to test the effect of practice or adjunct questions on learning in a real-world training environment. Subjects were 289 males enrolled in a self-study Naval communications course. Subjects were assigned to one of three experimental groups which received workbooks, or to a control group which did not receive workbooks. The…

This experimental study was conducted to: (1) provide further information on the susceptibility to special preparation of three Graduate Record Examination analytical item types; (2) determine the efficacy of self-study test familiarization materials for these types; and (3) ascertain the effects of several different components of special…

The purpose of this writing sampler is to familiarize Delaware teachers and students with the major writing portion of the Delaware Student Testing Program. Included for each grade level (3, 5, 8, and 10) are the original prompt and an example of exemplary student work. Although the intent was to include student work for each of the rubric score…

Four mathematics test-item types that may perform differently when calculators are used were assessed using data from 160 high school students attending a summer enrichment program. The effects of testing with and without calculators on testing time, test reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination were also assessed. (TJH)

Cohen and Hyman's response contains several misunderstandings of the original article by Mehrens and Kaminski. One frequently wishes to make inferences to a domain from a test, but teaching a specific performance and testing for that performance does not allow for a domain inference. (SLD)

Examines the strategies used in answering a computerized multiple-choice test where all questions on a semantic topic were grouped together or randomly distributed. Findings indicate that students grouped by performance on the test used different strategies in completing the test due to distinct cognitive processes between the groups. (AEF)