Developing a Defensible Language Skills Test for Teachers.

This presentation describes the rationale and major steps in the development of the Teacher's Test of Language Skills (TTLS) to be administered to selected certificated teachers in the Charleston County School District, South Carolina. The paper recounts the factors underlying the establishment of the School Board's policy, then traces the major events in the development of the TTLS from a dual perspective--that of the school district and that of the test developer, IOX Assessment Associates. The authors deal with (1) the isolation of competencies to be tested, (2) the creation of test specifications, (3) the development of test items, (4) the field-testing of TTLS items, and (5) the creation of multiple forms of the TTLS. Both test-development and political considerations are addressed. (Author)