These proceedings contain the papers of the 18th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2021), held virtually, due to an exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from October 13-15, 2021, and organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society…

The diagnostic significance of central placement of the first Bender-Gestalt design was examined by comparing protocols of clinic-referred and nonreferred children matched for age and IQ. As predicted, central placement occurred with greater frequency in the clinic group, but its clinical utility is unclear. (Author/RD)

Results confirm previous findings that the revised State University of New York at Stony Brook observation code is a valid instrument for quantifying and discriminating the classroom behavior of children referred because of hyperactive behavior. (Author)

Examines the comparative validity of a parent-report scale and a self-report scale, both designed to assess behavioral and emotional problems. Results, based on 111 children in regular education classrooms, indicate that parent reports were more sensitive to overt behavioral problems, whereas self-reports were sensitive to mood disturbances and…

Reports the development and standardization of the teacher version of the Child Behavior Profile. Analyses showed significant differences on the scales between nonreferred boys and boys referred by teachers due to emotional or behavioral problems, supporting the discriminant validity of the teacher profile. (LLL)

The effectiveness of an Education Consolidation Improvement Act Chapter 1 program was studied in a large urban school district. A common problem in evaluating remedial programs is that pretest/posttest achievement gains often indicate the effects of the entire curriculum, rather than those specific to the remedial class. In this district, over…

In 1987, a survey report by J. Cannell was published criticizing state reports based on national standardized testing of elementary school students that indicated that all 50 states were above the national average. This phenomenon--known as the "Lake Wobegon Effect"--is analyzed. Technical problems with the study are considered. (TJH)

A study of the extent to which two popular Published Reading Inventories (PRIs) identify the same instructional level when administered to 50 children in grades 1 through 7 demonstrate a significant lack of congruence between the instruments, particularly at the intermediate grade levels. (Author/CL)

The factorial validity and internal consistency reliability of the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale were examined with a random sample of elementary school children. Given the problem of multicollinearity that was shown to exist among subscales, the authors suggest caution in the interpretation of Devereux subscales as discrete…

The validity of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery was examined using test results of 50 learning disabled fourth graders. The appropriateness of the developmental strategy and the evidence for the external validity of the cluster measures contained in the battery were considered. Results indicated that the factor and scholastic…

Evaluated clinical utility and construct validity of seven new Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist behavior profiles and compared them to four original profiles. Results indicated that seven cluster solution classified equally as well as four cluster solution, but with increased differentiation into more specific internalizing and externalizing…

Discusses the problems of using chronometric analysis, a common cognitive psychological method, for educational assessment. Suggests that cognitive assessment has not reached the precision needed to analyze individual differences. (FMW)

Notes that while across large groups of students two tests may be highly correlated, specific characteristics of tests may interact with specific characteristics of students to yield differences in scores for one individual on two or more tests. (FL)

Teaching students test wiseness can have a number of positive results, including improving the validity of the tests themselves and improving the scores of minority students on tests. (AEA)

Scores on the Children's Personality Questionnaire (CPQ) were correlated with scores from rating scale items measuring the same behavior as a CPQ scale for a normal sample of school children in grades 3 to 6 and on two referred groups, underachievers and children with behavior or social problems. (Author)