A survey of respondents and nonrespondents to the Vocational Education Data System's follow-up survey of Massachusetts community college graduates was designed to measure response bias. The survey investigated employment patterns, wages, and degree of job relatedness. Results suggest original data was biased, if at all, toward underestimation, not…

The authors present results of a generalizability study of running record assessment. They conducted 2 decision studies to ascertain the number of raters and passages necessary to obtain a reliable estimate of a student's reading ability on the basis of a running record assessment. Ten teachers completed running record assessments of 10…

The purpose of this study was to improve both statistical and judgmental methods for detecting potentially biased test items in an attempt to examine the agreement between the results obtained with these methods. If greater agreement between methods can be achieved, test items can be more effectively screened using judgmental methods prior to…

The paper identifies and addresses four methodological weaknesses common to most previous studies that have used LISREL confirmatory factor analysis to test for the factorial validity and invariance of a single measuring instrument. Specifically, the paper demonstrates the steps involved in: (1) conducting sensitivity analyses to determine a…

This paper discusses the results of a study of the relationships between teacher behaviour and the level of play engagement in two- and three-year-old children in Dutch childcare centres. We found that the continuous proximity of the teacher had the greatest impact on the level of play engagement, while the teacher's walking around and only brief…

This study was mounted to assess the validity of standard score transformations of raw test scores and test bias on the 1970 edition of the Metropolitan Achievement Test Battery, in the context of a controversial federally funded compensatory education program, the Educational Voucher Demonstration (EVD). On an individual level the validity of the…

The feasibility of criterion referenced testing is held to be dependent on the tenability of two postulates: (1) that bias can be controlled in a principled manner from one test to the next; and (2) that one mental process measured by such tests may lawfully interact with another. Without the first postulate, criterion scores could not be…

The relationship between the Instructional Process, Instructional Objectives, and Assessment Tasks, identified at the School City of Gary, Indiana, necessitate an effective testing program. Four characteristics perceived crucial to a sound program were: (1) The program should be continuous, (2) The testing program should be comprehensive, (3)…

This collection of papers assesses the validity of the MLAT. It is not self-evident that a test designed for English speaking university students in America and validated there is necessarily valid in an English university. The differences between American English and British English are evident, and American universities admit a greater…

The objectives of the two-year project were to develop new occupational competency examinations for seven occupational areas--automotive mechanics, carpentry, chef, electrician (residential), industrial electronics, machine drafting, and machine trades--and subject the written examinations to a validation procedure. Vocational trade teachers were…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether option weighting improved the internal consistency and intercorrelation of the subtests. The differential option-weighting scheme employed in this study is based on one devised by Guttman. The tests were first scored with Guttman-type weights and then with conventional correction-for-guessing…

This study tests three aspects of the problem of validity of contrastive analysis as a means for predicting errors or problems for second language learners: the constancy of foreign-language errors, the objectivity of the methods and procedures of contrastive analysis, and the capacity of contrastive analysis to make accurate predictions. Japanese…

Comparisons of students' educational performances are usually based on test and examination results. However, for such comparisons to be valid, it is suggested that evaluations must be made on some common basis since many educational and employment decisions are based on these evaluations. Standardized tests, often used when comparisons are to be…

Summarizes an experiment that expanded the types of variables and approaches used in statistical analyses of subject attainment in secondary education. The experiment compared students' grades in a given subject with their expected grades based on performance in other subjects. Considers applications and limitations to this approach. (MJP)

This study explored some practical issues for single-case researchers who rely on visual analysis of graphed data, but who also may consider supplemental use of promising statistical analysis techniques. The study sought to answer three major questions: (a) What is a typical range of effect sizes from these analytic techniques for data from…