A method for obtaining curriculum-based estimates of student achievement is described. These estimates can be obtained through the use of a set of curriculum weights designed to reflect student opportunity to learn. If the match between the presented curriculum and test content is low, then the curriculum weights can be used to minimize potential…

A continuous pupil progress monitoring system was implemented in two elementary schools; 552 students and 38 educational personnel were involved. The monitoring system employed was initially designed to evaluate students receiving special services and their progress toward individual education plan reading goals. The model emphasized direct…

In order to identify orientation and mobility skills essential for young blind children, a master list of skills was compiled from developmental studies and teachers' observations and formed into a scale comprised of 47 subscales, each of which had three or more items arranged in developmental order. Scaling was done by jury judgment and by full…

Simulated Occupational Choice (SOC) was developed to measure competencies in career decision-making. SOC is a structured, individually-administered simulation exercise designed to elicit career decision-making behaviors and enable those behaviors to be observed, recorded, and scored in meaningful ways, particularly for diagnosis. It was…

A broad-range tailored test of verbal ability, appropriate at any level from fifth grade upwards, is briefly described. The test score places persons at all levels directly on the same score scale. (Author/RC)

This article presents evidence of the reliability and validity of a new paper-and-pencil test of proportional reasoning, Paper-and-Pencil Balance Beam Test. A Total of 627 individuals, aged 8-47, participated in the 3 studies discussed. Results support previous research which correlates performance on proportional reasoning problems with…

Examines the effect of individual testing in conjunction with group instruction on 306 students' sight-singing skills from beginning and advanced choirs of six high schools in Washington State. Reports that individual testing was found to be an effective means of improving individual sight-singing performance in group instructional situations.…

Examines what it takes to build a "learning community" designed to help all children receive a quality education on equal terms. The characteristics of communities of learners are described, and barriers to developing democratic learning communities are shown in the areas of leadership, testing and grouping, parent participation, and the…

When an examination consists in whole or part of constructed response test items, it is common practice to allow the examinee to choose a subset of the constructed response questions from a larger pool. It is sometimes argued that, if choice were not allowed, the limitations on domain coverage forced by the small number of items might unfairly…

This paper examines long-range problems caused by test-controlled schooling. It looks at the demands of both curricular and accountability uses of tests from the point of view of the urban school district's testing office. On the basis of interviews with 12 New Orleans teachers and the experiences of the authors in working in two large city…

This article presents a meta-analysis of the effects of examiner familiarity/unfamiliarity on children's performance during individual testing. Data came from 22 controlled studies involving 1489 subjects. In a typical study, the effect of examiner familiarity raised test performance by .35 standard deviations. Differential performance favoring…

Eighty-two children (ages 4.4 to 6.5 years) were administered a Backward Digit Span test to measure M-space and four conservation tasks (number, substance, continuous quantity, and weight). Based upon a neo-Piagetian theory of intellectual development proposed by Pascual-Leone (1969), two hypotheses were tested: (1) A significant relation should…

Tailored testing provides the same information as group-administered standardized tests, but can do so using fewer items because the items administered are selected for the ability of the individual student. Thus, tailored testing offers several advantages over traditional methods. Because individual tailored tests are not timed, anxiety is…

The Preschool Academic Skills Test was developed from an analysis of first-grade reading and mathematics materials to identify those behaviors that were assumed to be in students' repertoires prior to first grade. The 105 items are grouped in 10 subtests: Vocabulary, Color Naming, Classification, Functional Relationships, Visual Matching, Auditory…

This report describes the midterm and final tests administered to pupils in the Quality Assurance classes using the First Year Communication Skills Program. The tests included both selected and constructed response items and were designed to be individually administered to pupils. The results are reported for each eight outcome subscores (selected…