The feasibility of generating multiple-choice test questions by transforming sentences from prose instructional materials was examined. A computer-based algorithm was used to analyze prose subject matter and to identify high-information words. Sentences containing selected words were then transformed into multiple-choice items by four writers who…

State Departments of Education are turning to the use of criterion referenced, as opposed to norm referenced, models for statewide assessment. The underlying assumption in this turn of events is that results generated by criterion referenced tests within the statewide assessment context permit the drawing of value inferences about the…

The paper approaches criterion-referencing as a problem of validating tests for particular inferences about human behavior. Some definitions of the term "criterion-referenced" are reviewed, and the position is taken that direct inferences about what a test-taker can or cannot do--criterion-referenced inferences, that is--need not be restricted to…

The feasibility of using criterion referenced tests (CRTs) in a large-scale evaluation conducted in an effectiveness evaluation context was investigated. The study began by examining the theory that structures the development and validation of CRTs to discover whether, on theoretical grounds alone, CRTs are suitable or not suitable for large-scale…

Describes three "continuum categories" of language tests and the place of communicative tests in each of the three continuums. The question of what communication involves is discussed and five different approaches to communicative language testing are presented. (SED)

The Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (Early LAP) provides a systematic method for observing children's functioning in the birth to 36-month age range in order to assist teachers, clinicians, and parents in assessing individual skills development in six developmental domains: gross motor, fine motor, cognition, language, self-help, and social…

Describes current procedures used for testing bilingual teachers in the United States and focuses on one means of assessment used in Arizona. Examinee questionnaire responses, teacher questionnaire responses and test section analysis all contributed evidence for validity. (33 references) (Author/CK)

The validity of criterion-referenced interpretations of the proficiency scales of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is discussed. A major goal of the NAEP scales is to describe student achievement in specific content areas from grade 3 (age 9 years) through grade 11 (age 17 years). The numerical values for NAEP scales are…

In 1982-83, Riverside Unified School District (California) selected an achievement test to provide both norm- and criterion-referenced (dual objective) data for its achievement testing program. The test selection process was focused around eight evaluation aspects: prescreening of tests, content matching, instructional evaluation, processing…

Standardized achievement tests and instructional accomplishment inventories involve different methodologies and cannot be equated by using conventional psychometric methods. Instructional accomplishment inventories are descriptive, and are designed to reflect the scope, sequence, and skills and emphasis in a particular instructional program.…

The purpose of the investigation was to obtain some relationships among (1) test lengths, (2) shape of domain-score distributions, (3) advancement scores, and (4) several criterion-referenced test score reliability and validity indices. The study was conducted using computer simulation methods. The values of variables under study were set to be…

Differences among test item writers and among different rules for writing multiple choice items were investigated. Items testing comprehension of a prose passage were varied according to five factors: (1) information density of the passage; (2) item writer; (3) deletion of nouns, as opposed to adjectives, from the sentence in order to construct…

A sixth-grade mathematics test was evaluated in two different ways, and the evaluations were compared. One method of evaluation was to use the Rasch model for item analysis and to accept or reject items on the basis of the extent to which the data fit the model. The other method of evaluation was to ask school superintendents and teachers to rate…

The document presents the final report of a project to develop and validate a three-phase system of individualized criterion-referenced assessment instruments to provide professional decision makers with reliable information regarding a mentally handicapped person's skill level at different stages of normalization training. An overview of…

Objective-based assessment, known as criterion referenced testing, relies on the development of test items related directly to instructional objectives and incorporated into instruments for which predetermined criterion standards have been set. This bibliography attempts to provide in a somewhat systematic fashion, selected references concerning…