This digest presents a list of recommendations for writing multiple-choice test items, based on psychometrics statistics are typically provided by a measurement, or test scoring, service, where tests are machine-scored or by testing software packages. Test makers can capitalize on the fact that "bad" items can be differentiated from…

Techniques to enable high school students to improve their test performance are briefly outlined. The techniques cover pre-test preparation, strategies for use during test administration, and special skills for multiple-choice and essay tests. An advantage of students practicing their test-taking skills is that it will help them manage the anxiety…

Commercial achievement tests often provide limited instructional guidance and seldom provide feedback specific to any given classroom. The most instructionally relevant achievement tests are those developed by an individual teacher for use with a particular class. This digest describes the steps of test construction and presents suggestions for…

This digest describes the organization of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and what is included in a typical NAEP assessment. The way in which the NAEP selects students for assessments and how the assessments are used are discussed. The NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education…

This digest describes some basics of the construction of multiple-choice tests. As a rule, the test maker should strive for test item stems (introductory questions or incomplete statements at the beginning of each item that are followed by the options) that are clear and parsimonious, answers that are unequivocal and chosen by the students who do…

This digest presents a list of recommendations for writing multiple-choice test items, based on psychometrics and logical deduction. Questions should ask more than mere knowledge of facts and should not contain superfluous information as an introduction to the question. Each question should focus on some specific aspect of the course, and the item…

Authentic reading assessment is examined, focusing on its implementation within the Michigan Essential Skills Reading Test (MESRT). Authentic reading assessment emerged as a response to research that indicates that reading is not a particular skill but an interaction among reader, text, and the context of the reading situation. Unlike formal…

This document argues that current efforts to establish a national test to measure progress toward the nation's educational goals will inhibit, rather than advance, educational reform. Proponents of a national test have asked for single, primarily multiple-choice tests, or for performance assessments to measure progress toward the nation's…

The House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to look at school testing as it exists, to estimate its extent and cost, and to assess how a new national test might affect those factors. GAO gathered information from a variety of sources, including a 1991 survey with replies from 48 states…

This digest discusses how well authentic mathematics assessment tests can be expected to meet the needs of mathematics instruction that focuses on conceptual insights and analytical skills. In the new mathematics curriculum, situational lessons or real-life problems attempt to include dimensions of thinking and reasoning, individual or small-group…

Examining testing practices in other countries can help formulate ideas and issues in establishing a national assessment system in the United States. Based on recent reports by the Office of Technology and Assessment and the National Endowment for the Humanities, this digest provides an overview of the national examinations in several European…

This digest focuses on going beyond multiple choice testing to the development of methods for assessing complex knowledge and performances. Newly designed assessment systems must accurately measure and promote the complex thinking and learning goals that are known to be critical to students' academic success and their eventual sustained…