Emphasis on the systematic evaluation of federally funded programs has steadily increased over the last several years. In response to this increased emphasis, a workshop was held in Eugene, Oregon, on April 12-14, 1977, to familiarize the directors and selected staff members from six Far West Teacher Corps Network projects with the program…

THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF FIVE METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE SPELLING ABILITY OF PUPILS IN GRADES 2 AND 3 WAS DETERMINED. ASSIGNMENTS OF TEACHERS AND CLASSROOMS TO METHOD WERE BASED UPON TEACHER PREFERENCE FOR METHOD, ESTIMATED AVERAGE ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL OF PUPILS IN EACH CLASSROOM, AND RATINGS OF TEACHER QUALITY. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE STUDY A…

TESTING MATERIALS IN BOTH SPANISH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDITIONS WERE REVISED AND NEW MATERIALS CREATED IN THIS PROJECT. THE NEW SERIES OF TESTS INCLUDED ADMINISTRATION, AND ITEM ANALYSIS OF THE COOPERATIVE INTER-AMERICAN TESTS. DATA FOR THE ENGLISH EDITIONS WERE GATHERED FROM SUBJECTS DRAWN FROM AMERICAN SCHOOLS, AND DATA FOR THE SPANISH EDITIONS…

A team of technical experts should review the technical quality of proficiency examinations considered for assessing learning and granting college credit. The team should recommend approval or disapproval of the test; and if it is approved, recommend the level of test performance required in order to award credit. Information supplied by the test…

A computer program generating question series for achievement examinations was presented and the relative reliability of computer-generated and instructor-selected items was investigated. To provide validity for examinations generated by an original computer program, representative processes of construction and sampling were operationally defined.…

Describes a school board's decision to employ a standardized reading proficiency test despite the fact that the test was proven to be passage independent and thus did not measure reading comprehension. (DD)

A three-dimensional (3-D) test, comparable to twenty-five items from the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, constructed to determine whether 3-D stimuli would facilitate responses when compared to two dimensional (2-D) stimuli, revealed no significant effects for the version of the test (2-D or 3-D) or the order of administration. (MB)

Makes six suggestions for selecting appropriate career assessment instruments in the areas of proper training, use of the right kind of standards, deciding what information is needed, getting written documentation about tests under consideration, careful evaluation of instruments, and becoming familiar with issues in career assessment. (ABL)

The problem of choosing educational and psychological tests to identify students with learning disabilities is discussed within a cost-efficiency framework. An efficiency index for estimating the classification accuracy of tests is presented and the use of expert judgment and the cost-effectiveness ratio is demonstrated with a numerical example.…

The extent to which essay and objective tests measure the same or different abilities when instruction and content remain constant is investigated. (PR)

In response to Ebel's article (TM 508 146) the author points out that, in emphasizing what a test is intended to measure, the vital question of what should be measured is set aside. While explicit specifications for a test should be encouraged, questions of worth ought to be prominent in designing and selecting tests. (Author/LC)

Discusses four practical dilemmas faced by Black educational researchers and evaluators: (1) choosing between being objective and being loyal to Blacks involved in programs under study; (2) conducting ethnic-focused versus ethnic-free inquiry; (3) using commercially published versus specially constructed measurement instruments; and (4) producing…

Career guidance testing should clarify options for career exploration, claim the authors. They suggest three criteria for tests used in career counseling, note recent applications of the criteria in commercially available tests, and advocate use of the "Counselor's Guide to Vocational Guidance Instruments" by guidance personnel seeking suitable…

Discusses problems encountered in evaluating a mass drug education program including instrument selection, logistical constraints, and data analysis. Offers suggestions as to program evaluation improvement. (Author/RC)