How a Standardized Achievement Test is Built. Test Service Notebook 125.

Procedures which are used by Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Inc., in developing achievement tests are described; these steps are suggested to be typical of major test publishers. A curricular analysis of fifth grade mathematics textbooks is presented, to illustrate the process which determines which skills and objectives are tested. The characteristics of acceptable test questions are briefly described, as are item banks and considerations regarding the physical format of the test. The national item analysis program is described as the trial administration of experimental test forms, which examines item difficulty, item discrimination, and grade progression in difficulty level. Procedures for norming are described, including selection of the standardization sample; and three types of norms are defined: grade equivalents, percentile ranks, and stanines. The test manual is said to provide information to the test user concerning test reliability, test validity, and standard error of measurement. (GDC)