Analysis of educational psychology textbooks identified textbook authors' guidelines for teachers to follow when writing multiple-choice test items. Selected guidelines were used to evaluate multiple-choice items (N=1,080) from 18 college instructor guides to educational psychology texts. Results indicated that approximately 60 percent of the…

The cost of achieving high quality at numerous levels of large-scale assessment has been astronomical--in dollars spent and opportunities lost. Educators have all but ignored assessments developed by classroom teachers. Students can become motivated by becoming involved in classroom-based assessment, record keeping, and communication. (Contains 11…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Some Math Programs are Out of Tune (Niki…

This paper discusses a computer-based prototype called TestMaker that enables educators to create computer-based tests. Given the functional needs of faculty, the host of research implications computer technology has for assessment, and current educational perspectives such as constructivism and their impact on testing, the purposes for developing…

This manual outlines an instructional design technique, Harrison's Instructional Design (HID), which gives teachers of K-12 and postsecondary students a model for creating and stating the educational experiences they intend to provide for their students. Instructional design is a method of instructional planning that effectively reduces personal…

In schools today, tests are being used for a variety of reasons, such as an indication of school accountability and also to track students, label them, or place them in specialized programs. Excessive dependence on test outcomes can adversely effect students' educational goals and contribute to their disengagement from education, because (among…

A handbook on teaching is presented that covers teaching preparation, the first teaching experience, teaching methods, testing and grading, instructional evaluation and improvement, relationships with students, and teaching resources. An introductory section briefly describes programs for faculty and teaching assistants and programs for students…

Although informal reading inventories are widely used, they are not without their shortcomings, regardless of whether they have been published commercially or have been constructed by the teacher. There are at least two significant weaknesses in inventories developed by the teacher: (1) passages selected randomly from the graded basal readers that…

Ways that East Texas State University (ETSU) can establish systematic and continuous program evaluations to conform to accreditation standards for institutional effectiveness are discussed. The historical background to educational evaluation in America is traced, and archetypes for assessment of educational outcomes are considered. Section III of…

This report provides a comparative cost analysis of three different methods of developing final examinations for secondary schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland. Based on expenditure reports and interviews with central and school-based staff, cost estimates were developed for three kinds of exams: (1) the county-wide final…

An attempt to improve high school teachers' integration of testing and instructional practice through inservice training failed to produce substantial results. In each of five districts participating, one high school used the intervention and one served as a control. Three science teachers were trained in each school, one as a lead teacher. Data…

This manual is designed to provide teachers with technically sound, easy-to-follow procedures for developing diagnostic tests to be used with their own students. The definition of diagnostic testing is broadened to include any tests systematically designed to provide information about skills that students have or have not mastered. A five-step…

An approach to testing reading comprehension among Dutch speaking university students of German for academic purposes is described. The test items were designed to reflect the most typical comprehension errors made by speakers of Dutch when reading German academic discourse. The most frequent errors were due to vocabulary and declension…

Local teachers and other school personnel in Hawaii expressed a need for operational guidelines to use in deciding whether or not to refer students for diagnostic evaluations for specific learning disabilities (SLD). This project was designed to evaluate whether the Windward Rating Scale (WRS), a locally-developed teacher rating scale of student…

This paper describes conventions in the scoring of classroom tests and of the achievement batteries used in school districts', testing programs in the U.S. The scales used for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Testing Program are described. Some new, criterion-referenced scales developed for state and national assessments are…