A study tested the cumulative acquisition model proposed by S. H. Chaffee and A. R. Tims to explain the development of adolescent patterns of news media use. The Guttman scale procedure was used to analyze patterns of news media use across a three-wave panel survey of 366 parent-child pairs over a 2-year period. In each wave, interviewers talked…

Omitted items cannot properly be treated as wrong when estimating ability and item parameters. A convenient method for utilizing the information provided by omissions is presented. Theoretical and empirical justifications are presented for the estimates obtained by the new method. (Author)

Cason and Cason's model of performance rating was used to determine the extent to which variation in reviewer standards affected the reliability and validity of the program review process used to select papers for inclusion in the annual program. Data analyzed were the overall recommendation for acceptance and ratings on seven quality criteria…

This paper presents criteria for establishing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries, and specific techniques to facilitate their achievement or determine the degree of their achievement. The following criteria are briefly described: fairness; and ontological, educative, catalytic and tactical authenticity. Explored in greater detail,…

Six studies are presented which investigate factors in implementing the Revolving Door Identification Model (RDIM) and the Enrichment Triad Model in gifted education for children in grades 1-8. In "An Analysis of the Productivity of Gifted Students Participating in Programs Using the Revolving Door Identification Model," S. Reis reports,…

This paper provides an understanding of the conceptual and operational relationships between evaluation, content analysis, and microcomputers so that evaluation practitioners can better address applied content analysis problems used in their work. The first section presents a general model for conducting an evaluation effort that focuses on…

Procedural documentation is presented for administering, scoring and analyzing data gathered to examine the construct validity of a set of superitems developed to assess student levels of mathematical reasoning ability. Each superitem includes a mathematical situation and a structured set of questions about that situation. The questions were based…

The validity of the Training Benefit Forecasting Method (TBFM) was studied in a Grammar and Punctuation Program conducted at Onan Corporation. The target population was composed of 10 workers who handled the document production in the organization's word processing center. Based on information gathered from the course instructor, participants, and…

This paper presents an evaluation of Army job training development and testing practices, with a focus on Advanced Individual Testing. Information comes from intensive interviews with school instructors and from observations in the schools. Results indicate that some aspects of the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model have been…

A questionnaire containing all 78 items from the three forms of Robert F. Bales' Interpersonal Rating Forms (IRF) was administered to 266 college students to test the reliability and validity of the IRF. The questions asked for self-perceptions about one's roles and behaviors in task groups. The results indicated that the scales are neither…

In light of the widespread use of competency testing, the authors consider that it is important to determine ways of developing and using competency testing to insure that it achieves its full potential. The paper, in three parts, introduces a model for the development and validation of competency tests, reviews several methods for setting…

Fifty-five recent studies of individual differences (IDs) in elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are reviewed. Twenty-five data sets are examined, analyzed, or reanalyzed by factor analysis. The following promising dimensions are identified: basic perceptual processes, reaction and movement times, mental comparison and recognition tasks, retrieval…

Technical considerations associated with item selection and reliability assessment are considered in relation to criterion-referenced tests constructed to provide group information. The purpose is to emphasize test building and the evaluation of test scores in program evaluation studies. It is stressed that an evaluator employ a performance or…

The use of data on longitudinal student attendance patterns to determine variances, and hence confidence bounds, on student enrollment forecasts, in addition to finding the forecasts themselves, is demonstrated. The formulation of the enrollment model based on longitudinal student attendance patterns is described step by step, presenting the…

Data are used from the individualized math component of an operating educational system to validate the basic assumptions underlying EDSIM 1, a computer simulation model that traces the interaction of three probabilistic elements in an educational program and produces synthetic output regarding this interaction in terms of student time in the…