Efficient methods of using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data files are discussed. One error in the NAEP SPSS file is discussed, and another error (which may be system-dependent) is mentioned. In addition, purely mathematical methods are used to address the…

Three methods of item selection were used to select sets of 38 items from a 50-item verbal analogies test and the resulting item sets were compared for internal consistency, standard errors of measurement, item difficulty, biserial item-test correlations, and relative efficiency. Three groups of 1,500 cases each were used for item selection. First…

Six approaches to assessing test item bias were examined: transformed item difficulty, point biserial correlations, chi-square, factor analysis, one parameter item characteristic curve, and three parameter item characteristic curve. Data sets for analysis were generated by a Monte Carlo technique based on the three parameter model; thus, four…

The effects of the protocol film series, Concepts and Patterns in Teacher-Pupil Interaction, were measured by a film-based test after the test had undergone validation. The test, Categorizing Teacher Behavior, evidenced a high level of reliability and validity in a graduate level course in educational psychology. The test was judged valid by a…

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measure of teacher value systems. Three value systems were defined as values associated with (1) the pursuit of truth, (2) social and interpersonal relations, and (3) authority and its exercise. The scale was taken through three stages of development and field…

A diagnostic test in English as a second language should be a series of miniature tests on specific problems. Subscores in each area should be considered rather than a total score. The results should be used to probe mastery in an area rather than provide the means for comparing one student against another. The statistical reliability of the…

Factor analysis was used to summarize the interrelationships between a large and varied collection of measures. Data for 500 third grade students assigned to either an experimental or a comparison condition were obtained. The data covered scores for the first 28 items of the Student Affective Behavior Checklist, (2) 9 nonmathematics subtests of…

This report is the initial overall summary of a comprehensive analysis of children's logical concept attainments and memoric abilities and deals exclusively with the initial and second year's assessment data. The focal point for this normative investigation is the concrete operations period spanning the years of middle childhood. The measurement…

A study compared a Modified Area Skill Survey (MASS) with a Modified Industry/Occupation Matrix (MIOM) method of projecting manpower demand. The comparison was made with regard to the bias and precision of the estimates of the two projection methods on populations of varying size. To achieve the comparison, each method was applied to the same…

Investigates factors influencing Japanese university students' expository writing in English. Quantitative analysis revealed that students' second-language (L2) proficiency, first-language writing ability, and metaknowledge were significant in explaining L2 writing ability variance. An explanatory model for writing ability in English as a Foreign…

Examined open-ended production tasks in higher level testing in French-as-a-second-language courses in the United Kingdom. The article studied the effect of teachers' linguistic background, training, experience, and ability on their marking of students' oral language tests; the reliability of marking criteria; and the validity of assessing…

The background and rationale for the 2 tests are described and results of a norming and validation study involving 804 Mexican-American college freshmen in 5 border community colleges are reported. The results provide evidence that the DTES and VAT are reliable and effective for Mexican-American students, having overcome inadequacies of other…

This study used data from 992 cases in 16 longitudinal studies of the Early Intervention Research Institute to evaluate five measures of family functioning: (1) Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale-III; (2) Family Support Scale; (3) Family Resources Scale; (4) Parenting Stress Index; and (5) Family Inventory of Life Events.…

The extent to which national performance on an achievement test battery changed over a 4-year period was studied, and the comparative performance of students in school districts taking the test series for the first time was compared with that of students in districts that had used the battery at least once in one or more grades. The seventh…

This paper summarizes the research on learning style based on responses to the Learning Style Inventory by 1,836 students in grades 1 through 12. Reliability analyses are included for each sub-scale for males and females based on factors determined by factor and content analysis. The intercorrelations are included for males and females within…