The emphasis in this study is on the development of a diagnostic measurement model for instruction. The content used was junior high science, but the content and subjects were used primarily as a means to an end. The model represents an attempt to incorporate Gagne's learning taxonomy into Tyler's model of the educational act. Focus is on the…

Instructional improvement within the context of criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests is described. Such categories overemphasize test interpretation rather than design characteristics of achievement tests. Data from most measurement situations may be reported or interpreted either according to criterion- or norm-referenced standards. How…

Suggests that the current tests for writers form a paradigm for how other liberal studies faculties can shape assessment programs that reflect the important tenets of their disciplines, because these tests have grown from sound academic principles, rather than from the expediencies of budget offices, campus testing services, or legislative…

A study of undergraduate students investigated whether different rehearsal strategies are more effective in facilitating achievement, whether certain rehearsal strategies require learners to spend more time interacting with instructional content, and whether verbal or visual testing requires students to spend more time processing and responding to…

The migrant lifestyle, in which a student moves to a new school nearly three times per year, destroys the continuity of educational programs and contributes to abnormally high dropout rates. Educational testing can help improve educational continuity for migrant students by yielding valuable information about their levels of skills mastery so they…

This paper discusses the use of assessment instruments at the preschool level and systematically reviews several measurement instruments used with young children. The first section briefly discusses the selection of educational objectives, consideration of alternative methods of collecting information about children, the selection of a specific…

A detailed and condensed discussion describes the process of test item preparation in general, with special application to the measurement of learning in occupational education. Because the Instructional Support System Occupational Education (ISSOE) has as a policy a emphasis on input from teachers, these guidelines have been prepared to assist…

Designed to serve as an introductory manual to mastery testing in science, this guide provides basic information about a variety of related topics such as mastery learning, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced testing, how to develop a mastery test, when and how to use a mastery test, limitations of mastery tests, and a list of mastery tests…

This guide is designed to help parents gain a better understanding of testing and its role in the education of their children. It answers the following questions: (1) What are standardized tests? (2) What do standardized test scores tell me about my child? (3) How are standardized test scores used? (4) What are the limitations of standardized…

Six current issues in the use of tests are examined in this paper. Are the tests used in education valid? In general and to a reasonably satisfactory extent they are. Is the emphasis these tests place on cognitive achievements a serious limitation? Because of the basic and pervasive role of cognition in human affairs, and in the absence of any…

A diagnostic test in English as a second language should be a series of miniature tests on specific problems. Subscores in each area should be considered rather than a total score. The results should be used to probe mastery in an area rather than provide the means for comparing one student against another. The statistical reliability of the…

Two versions of a criterion-referenced videodisc-based instrument, SHIPS (Self-Help InterPersonal Skills), have been developed for high school students with hearing impairments. Students can choose either American Sign Language or English-based sign versions of assessment items. Field testing found that use of SHIPS enhanced data validity and…

A greater emphasis on the outcomes of learning should help provide more effective approaches to learning and widen participation. More careful and comprehensive analysis of outcomes could also make evaluation and curriculum development more effective. Education and training bring about change (learning outcomes) in individuals. Those outcomes…

In an effort to examine issues raised by the effort to assess the performance of educational institutions, a project focusing on the social purposes and intellectual foundations of assessment practices in education was initiated. The primary goal of the project was to explore the possibility of developing new, more appropriate educational…

The Instructional Support System for Occupational Education (ISSOE), developed in New York during the past five years, consists of a student-outcome-oriented curriculum that is locally developed and implemented by teachers. The teachers who have been using the ISSOE materials have indicated some difficulty in implementing the system because of the…