ZEROING IN ON THE STEP WRITING TEST: WHAT DOES IT TELL A TEACHER?¹

Abstract

A large number of schools administer the STEP Writing Test (1957). Although the publisher of STEP has clearly stated the objectives which STEP was designed to measure, the question frequently arises from classroom teachers, just what can you tell about a student's actual writing behavior from the results of a multiple choice test.The manual for interpreting scores claims that STEP measures ability to think crtically in writing, to organize materials, to write material appropriate for a given purpose, to write effectively, and to observe conventional usage in punctuation and grammar (p. 7). The manual further states that, "The STEP Writing tests seek to measure comprehensively the full range of skills involved in the process of good writing."Items on the STEP are classified according to five categories: 1. organization, 2. conventions, 3. critical thinking, 4. effectiveness, 5. appropriateness.Black (Buros, 1959, p. 593-4) asserts that STEP fails in all but the second category and is only partially successful in measuring conventions. He arrived at his conclusions from his analysis of item content. Perhaps revealing his own biases concerning multiple choice writing tests he concludes "any educator who wishes to measure the full range of skills involved in the process of good writing will resort to writing itself."Hieronymous (Buros, 1959, p. 595) concludes, again from his analysis of item content, that STEP measures "very effectively higher-order writing skills, particularly those of effectiveness and appropriateness.

Linking Testing and Instruction: Policy Issues

“…However, during instruction teachers generally make students supply answers rather than pick them. Correlations between multiple choice standardized test results and more direct measures of instructional outcomes are seldom high (Madaus & Rippey, 1966;Stake, 1972;Anderson, Scott, and Hutlock, 1976). The low correlations are in part a function of differences between the method of measurement and the method of instruction and of learning.…”