In 1982 the Dade County Public Schools (Florida) began developing test item banks for secondary subject areas, because other testing programs have limited utility for assessing the quality of curriculum, instruction, or learning in specific content areas. In May l984, the approximately 17,000 seventh graders enrolled in Life Science and the…

A number of significant policy issues related to the use of competency tests in basic skills as a requirement for high school graduation are discussed. Issues contributing to the interest in this practice include test score decline, the widespread offering of electives in high school, the complaints of employers about the skill level of high…

This special issue of "Catalyst", entitled Testing Programs in Schools: What's New?, was published jointly by the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum. The articles emphasize desirability of designing testing programs to meet the information needs of educators and the…

Implementation of the Proficiency Testing Program, adopted by the Idaho State Board of Education, is explained in the districts coordinator's manual. The tests are described as administered on a district optional basis to ninth grade students in the basic skills areas of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. Criterion referenced tests are…

This study compares the effect of the objectives-based test collections of the Instructional Objectives Exchange (10X) on reading comprehension and word-attack skills of fifth-grade students in a basal reader program. The 10X, a nonprofit educational organization, was established in the late 1960s to provide educators with instructional materials…

Norm referenced data were utilized for determining the mastery cutoff score on a criterion referenced test. Once a cutoff score on the norm referenced measure is selected, the cutoff score on the criterion referenced measure becomes that score which maximizes proportion of consistent classifications and proportion of improvement beyond change. (CP)

Outlines the specifications for objective-based programs in career education, describes the development of one component (an item and objective bank) of an objective-based woodworking program, and discusses the development of objectives and test items and the utilization of criterion-referenced testing data. A sample of the woodworking objectives…

The Ontario Ministry of Education conducted case studies of the testing programs in nine selected school districts. Results are presented in narrative form on the major study questions: testing program development and organization, the tests administered, uses of test results, and perceived role of the ministry in evaluation programs. (SJL)

This study was undertaken to develop guidelines for making interpretive inferences from scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a norm-referenced test of English-language listening comprehension (LC) and reading (R) skills, about level of ability to use English in face-to-face conversation, indexed by performance in…

One component of the Maryland School Performance Program (MSPAP) is the state's performance-based assessments, criterion-referenced tests that require students to apply what they know and can do to solve problems and display other higher-order thinking skills. This document helps parents, teachers, students, and other citizens understand the tasks…

One component of the Maryland School Performance Assessment; Program (MSPAP) is the state's performance-based assessments, criterion-referenced tests that require students to apply what they know and can do to solve problems and display other higher-order thinking skills. This document helps parents, teachers, students, and other citizens…

The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) is a state-mandated, criterion-referenced or mastery test that has been administered since the 1990-91 school year. The TAAS measures student mastery of the statewide curriculum in reading and mathematics at grades 3 through 8 and at the exit level, and in writing at grades 4 and 8 and at the exit…

Florida's Commissioner of Education recently appointed a task force to review current standards for the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and the effect of raising the levels of passing scores that are proposed for 1989. There is now a sufficient history of the CLAST to provide an understanding of the program's benefits and liabilities.…

The history of a statewide effort to improve student learning in Missouri by adopting the concept of an Instructional Management System (IMS) with desired learned outcomes determining both instruction and testing was suggested to local school districts in 1980. In 1985, legislation provided funds and authority to engage large groups of teachers in…

This report is designed to provide numerical data about student performance on the curriculum of the Boston (Massachusetts) Public Schools (BPS) as measured by curriculum referenced tests (CRTs). BPS Department of Educational Testing analyzed data from the 1986 CRT final exams in: reading and language arts (grades K-8), high school English (six…