Computer adaptive testing systems are feasible for certification and licensure testing. This is in part due to the availability of extensive yet inexpensive computers. Modern item response theory, combined with computerized adaptive testing, yields a powerful new method of testing which provides greater accuracy and efficiency and less boredom for…

This study reexamines results reported by Angoff and Schrader regarding formula directions and rights directions for standardized tests. In that study, it was concluded that the two scoring directions were essentially equivalent. In this study, methodological concerns are discussed and additional data analyses undertaken. Among various…

Intended for teachers, this collection of articles on testing in the English language arts contains the following titles: "What Do Test Scores 'Really' Mean in Educational Policy?" by George F. Madaus; "Testing and Literacy: A Contradiction in Terms?" by Marilyn Wilson; "Throwing in the TOWL," by Mary Jane Curry; "Taking the Authority Figure Out…

This paper discusses the results of a study of the relationships between teacher behaviour and the level of play engagement in two- and three-year-old children in Dutch childcare centres. We found that the continuous proximity of the teacher had the greatest impact on the level of play engagement, while the teacher's walking around and only brief…

Prekindergarten Head Start teachers were trained to administer the Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP), an objective check list of development in seven areas: gross motor, fine motor manipulation and writing, social, self help, cognitive, and language skills. Data were collected from separate groups of 3, 4, and 5-year old children to ascertain…

The Professional and Administrative Career Examination measures judgment ability using comprehension and logical order of events item types. Since the verbal component of comprehension items is high, and since these items are extremely difficult to write and document, a search was conducted for a simpler item type for assessing judgment. Three…

Teaching staff represent a powerful influence on program development. Therefore it is essential that their opinions be ascertained and analyzed in a school evaluation. The Teacher Opinion Inventory was developed to accomplish three goals: (1) to assess teacher opinion toward many facets of the school; (2) to provide teacher recommendations for…

The Assessment of Readiness for the Professional Practice of Ministry project, sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools, studied methods for determining a person's readiness to enter the mimtry and perform effectively. Simultaneously, the Lutheran Seminarian Project assessed the needs and strengths of beginning seminary students. Both…

Findings of two studies which examined the identification of prekindergarteners with potential learning problems are presented. The first was a pilot study, in which a short screening device and a parent questionnaire were administered to a large, randomly-selected sample. In the second study, these instruments were validated against extensive…

This study was mounted to assess the validity of standard score transformations of raw test scores and test bias on the 1970 edition of the Metropolitan Achievement Test Battery, in the context of a controversial federally funded compensatory education program, the Educational Voucher Demonstration (EVD). On an individual level the validity of the…

A reading ability test is described in terms of its purpose, its outline, its reliability, and judgments about the relevance of its content. Copies of the two forms of the test and the answer key are appended. A review of some of the literature on literacy indicates the difficulty of reaching consensus in its definition or in the setting of…

A project was conducted to determine whether a vocational student's version of the Affective Work Competencies Inventory could be prepared to measure the psychological constructs of values, habits, and attitudes. A revised inventory was developed and administered to 194 students in eight selected programs at Toledo vocational high schools (data…

This paper discusses a study undertaken to analyze pre-and posttest scores of junior high and high school students involved in an aging education unit. Objectives were to determine whether a unit on aging helped students relate to aging as part of the life cycle and to assess the success of different modes of instruction (i.e. independent study,…

The feasibility of criterion referenced testing is held to be dependent on the tenability of two postulates: (1) that bias can be controlled in a principled manner from one test to the next; and (2) that one mental process measured by such tests may lawfully interact with another. Without the first postulate, criterion scores could not be…

The rationale of the Observation Schedule and Record (OScAR) is described, and research is reported to show the extent to which the form fulfills its purposes. In order to provide objective, reliable, and valid information about the teaching process, this classroom observation schedule is used to record the frequency of occurrence of 42 teacher…