William A. Mehrens

Michigan State University | MSU · Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education

The authors describe the significant contributions of Robert Ebel to educational measurement theory and its applications. A biographical sketch details Ebel's roots and professional résumé. His influence on classroom assessment views and procedures are explored. Classic publications associated with validity, reliability, and score interpretation ar...

You may be able to identify several ways students can be prepared to take an upcoming test, but which ways are ethical to use? There are available materials that you may purchase and use to prepare students for a test: Are they effective and is it ethical to use them? What constitutes an ethically acceptable test preparation procedure?

Now that the use of performance assessments for certification, graduation, and classroom use is burgeoning, what are the responsibilities of educators for preparing students for such assessments? Do the same guidelines apply for both multiple-choice tests and performance assessments?

After presenting his argument for a hope-oriented approach to the use of tests, BUI goes on to discuss the conjunctive decisionmaking model, he argues that the conjunctive model emphatically does not use Just one piece of data, then compares how data Is used In the conjunctive and the compensatory decisionmaking models.

How common are securitg breaches in state testing programs? What problems are most frequently encountered? Does the number of problems seem small or large, given the nature of the tests and how they are used?

In past issues (vol.8, no. 1 and vol. 10, no. 1), Mehrens & Kaminski and Cohen & Hyman have addressed test-preparation procedures. On what points is there agreement between these authors? What are points of disagreement? Where have Cohen & Hyman misinterpreted Mehrens & Kaminski? What points made by Cohen & Hyman confuse Mehrens?

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a linear factor analytic method commonly used to investigate violation of the item response theory (IRT) unidimensionality assumption is sensitive to measurable curricular differences within a school district and to examine the possibility of differential item performance for groups of students r...

Every major textbook in measurement discusses the improvement of a test through the use of item statistics. Most students taking a course in test construction remember that item analysis can be useful in item selection decisions. Unfortunately, they tend to forget that item analyses can also be useful for item revision. Too frequently a person doin...

Standardized tests are designed to measure broad goals. But many professionals have been concerned with the lack of fairly specific matches between items (or objectives) on a test and the curriculum (instruction). This study assessed the differences in standardized test scores resulting from curricular differences in two school systems. The degree...

The issue of the match of what is taught to what is tested recently has received increased emphasis. Many recent studies have examined the extent of the mismatch between a local set of objectives/instruction and the content of a nationally standardized test. Phillips and Mehrens (1985, 1987; see also Mehrens & Phillips, 1986) have conducted a serie...

In this article, I present the perspectives of an independent measurement expert regarding the Texas state graduation test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). I conclude, among other things, that (a) the TAAS was constructed according to acceptable professional standards; (b) it tests curricular material that Texas Board of Education v...

Attention is here directed toward the prevalence of large scale assessments (focusing primarily on state assessments). I examine the purposes of these assessment programs; enumerate both potential dangers and benefits of such assessments; investigate what the research evidence says about assessment consequences (including a discussion of the qualit...

Critically examines the conceptual and psychometric problems associated with curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Three conceptual issues are discussed: (1) the definition of disability, (2) the local curriculum as the criterion, and (3) the match between assessment and instruction. Some of the statements made by CBM advocates regarding nationally s...

As the first paper in a series of policy papers on high-stakes student assessment programs, this paper examined high school graduation tests. High stakes refers to the use of test results to make important decisions about the test taker. Whether to use a high school graduation test is an essential policy question that will be addressed in a forthco...

Why is there such great interest in performance assessment? Are large-scale performance assessments administratively feasible, professionally credible, publicly acceptable, legally defensible, and economically affordable?

Problems with performance assessment (PA) and multiple-choice tests (MCTs) are outlined, with reference to the literature on accountability. PA for individual teachers who should integrate their assessments with their instruction; PA as a supplement to more traditional examinations for licensure decisions; and some limited, experimental tryouts of...

Issues involved in high stakes testing are reviewed, with emphasis on the proper role of instructional preparation. The recent focus on educational accountability has increased pressure to raise test scores. One way of improving test scores is to teach what is on the test. The following guidelines concerning appropriate instructional strategies are...

The logic of using a sequential decision-making approach using college grade point average (GPA) and test scores for teacher licensure decisions within the conjunctive decision-making model is discussed and contrasted with the compensatory model for decision making. The major issues to consider in choosing between the conjunctive and compensatory m...

Tests can provide information that facilitates and supports decision making, particularly in the domain of education. However, each type of decision, each type of inference from test data, and each model of decision making carries with it certain constraints and risks. In this chapter I will outline the principles of interaction between these aspec...

The objectives of this study were to examine the impact of different curricula on standardized achievement test scores at item and objective levels and to determine if different curricula generate different patterns of item factor loadings. School buildings from a middle-sized district were rated regarding the degree to which their curricula matche...

The area of educational measurement can be considered as twofold: the construction, evaluation, and use of teacher-made classroom tests and of standardized tests. This text focuses on the latter of these two areas, dealing with both norm- and criterion-referenced standardized tests. This book can serve as the main text in the first course in stan...

The types of validity evidence that are appropriate for teacher licensure tests are discussed. Included are a discussion of the current popularity of teacher competency tests and the reasons for that popularity. Licensure, certification, and employment examinations are differentiated. Because the area of interest is the minimum competency necessary...

The purpose of this presentation is (a) to analyze critically reseach and promotional literature on Guilford's Structure-of-Intellect (SOI) model as it relates to the cognitive functioning of gifted students, and (b) to evaluate the implications of this analysis for the identification and programming of gifted students. This evaluation is based on...

Describing the findings and insights gained from a two-year research and development project entitled "Integrating Assessment with Instruction," this document focuses on the current measurement needs of teachers and the instructional processes for meeting those needs. The article is divided into four segments: (1) a description of the literature in...

Incl. bibl.

Offers an overview of NAEP, a project designed to compile data for assessing and improving American education. (DR) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Program Description.

Obra que aborda las generalidades y objetivos de la psicología de la educación, así como los tópicos sobre: el aspecto evolutivo de la persona, la instrucción y el aprendizaje, la dinámica de la clase, y la medición y evaluación educativa.

Obra que aborda las generalidades y objetivos de la psicología de la educación, así como los tópicos sobre: el aspecto evolutivo de la persona, la instrucción y el aprendizaje, la dinámica de la clase, y la medición y evaluación educativa.

Traducción de: Contemporary Educational Psychology Obra que aborda las generalidades y objetivos de la psicología de la educación, así como los tópicos sobre: el aspecto evolutivo de la persona, la instrucción y el aprendizaje, la dinámica de la clase, y la medición y evaluación educativa.

Traducción de: Measurement and evaluation in education and psychology Reimpresión en en el mismo a±o por la misma editorial en un volumen Incluye bibliografía e índice

Traducción de : Contemporary educational psichology Incluye bibliografía e índice

Ignorance of specifics of career decision-making processes has prevented development and use of more effective vocational counseling procedures. Simply giving clients vocational information and assuming rational use of it is criticized. Contemporary decision theories suggest several relevant variables. Two variables, subjective probabilities (indiv...

The processes involved in individual decision making have received considerable attention in the last fifteen years and several mathematical models have been developed to account for, and predict, decisions reached. The more widely accepted decision theory models suggest that people do not make decisions on the basis of the objective probabilities...