A technical advisory committee assisted the Alabama State Department of Education in establishing passing scores and equating test forms of the Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE). The committee examined four methods of setting cutting scores: (1) Jensen's theoretical method--probability theory is used to set standards that are…

Faced with the need to replace a "waiting list" system of nursing program admissions with a more equitable selection process, Prince George's Community College examined the criteria leading to successful completion of the five-part State Board Examinations (SBE). Resultant criteria would then be used to place applicants into a…

The Language Assessment Battery was administered to third to fifth grade limited English speaking students in New York City. Special techniques addressed two common problems in testing these populations: (1) language tests suitable for limited English speakers change their psychometric characteristics over time as the students' language ability…

Procedures for establishing the cutoff scores for the occupational competency exams administered to individuals graduating from Pennsylvania vocational teacher education programs were reviewed. A total of 595 National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) Exams administered in 43 occupations or trades at three colleges between the…

Criteria for the selection of judges (evaluators) for setting item-based standards involved in tests for which cutting scores must be established are investigated. Focus is on cases in which test standards are based on specialists' judgments concerning the difficulty of test items in tests used to determine who will be awarded a diploma, admitted…

This symposium consists of five papers and presents some recent developments in adaptive testing which have applications to several military testing problems. The overview, by James R. McBride, defines adaptive testing and discusses some of its item selection and scoring strategies. Item response theory, or item characteristic curve theory, is…

Standards-based reform is a strategy that includes specifying what is to be learned, devising tests to measure learning, and establishing consequences of performance for students and schools. Popular support remains strong for standards-based reform, according to national polling data as well as local data in the states implementing this strategy.…

The development of the Student Selection Battery for the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study is described. This battery, which measures reading and mathematics achievement in second and fifth grade students, will be used to select target students for the study of teaching effectiveness. Methodological considerations included: the limited amount of…

This chapter should not only acquaint the reader with the present state of the art on Criterion-Referenced (CR) measurement but also suggest possible directions for further inquiry. The goal of the first part of this chapter is to deal with the definitional dilemma of CR measurement by proceeding from the more traditional view of CR measurement to…