Reviews both the technical and policy aspects of readiness testing in local school districts. Summarizes policy context, motivations behind the tests, and consequences. Discusses the types of readiness tests and developmental screening measures misused as readiness tests, along with evidence of these measures' substantive and technical validity.…

Describes the development of an English-as-a-Second-Language computer-adaptive test of reading comprehension. The article discusses the constraints that apply to Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) and the advantages of CAT over conventional testing modalities. (29 references) (Author/CK)

Examines standards in language testing, in the context of the legal framework of the United States and the United Kingdom. The article argues that research into test reliability and validity by testing bodies in the United States has a legal basis and examines areas in which examination boards offering English as a foreign language tests in…

Compares the predictive and concurrent validities of a learning efficiency test with that of another test. Memory factor scores of the learning efficiency test correlated significantly with the other test's scores, with class grades, and with actual grade-level functioning in reading. The learning efficiency test's validity compares favorably to…

Responds to Crowley's and Wilson's articles on the reliability of the van Hiele Geometry Test. Discusses the issue of the difficulty of trying to maximize content validity while minimizing measurement error. (YP)

Argues that the Scholastic Aptitude Test is unnecessary. Advocates the coordinated development of achievement tests and high school curricula based on the College Board's Advanced Placement Program and Project Equality. (FMW)

In the context of developing assessment instruments in psychology, issues of standardization, norming procedures, and test reliability and validity are discussed. Criteria, guidelines, and rules of thumb are provided to help the clinician with instrument selection for a given psychological assessment. (SLD)

Test specifications need to take a middle road so that they are not so general that instructional targeting is impossible and not so specific that only unitary assessment targets are fostered. Using illustrative sample items provides a good means of communicating the items eligible to be tested. (SLD)

Effects of item wording on questionnaire reliability and validity were studied, using 280 undergraduate business students who completed a questionnaire comprising 4 item types: (1) regular; (2) polar opposite; (3) negated polar opposite; and (4) negated regular. Implications of results favoring regular and negated regular items are discussed. (SLD)

Relationships among the scales of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Human Information Processing Survey revealed in a study by S. C. Shiflett (1989) were reinvestigated in a study involving 554 college students (270 males and 284 females). One significant gender difference among the correlations was found. (SLD)

Comparison of scores from a normative sample of 880 children and 276 sexually abused children on the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI), a checklist for 2- through 12-year-old children, supports the reliability and validity of the instrument. The CSBI is directly related to specific features of sexual abuse. (SLD)

The reliability and validity of the revised California Psychological Inventory's (CPI) Vector 1 scale, a measure of introversion and extraversion, were studied with 345 college students (109 males and 236 females). Results support the scale as a valid measure of the introversion-extraversion construct of H. G. Gough. (SLD)

An attempt was made to standardize the Work Aspect Preference Scale for an Australian work sample, including 1,250 employed adults (46 percent females and 54 percent males). Use of percentile norms--developed for 3 age cohorts (20 years and younger, 21-30 years, and over 30 years) and by sex--is discussed. (SLD)

This critical evaluation of the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) determined that the test items are 30 years old, scores are derived from a nonrepresentative norm group, and scores are not interchangeable with other intelligence measures. The paper concludes that the SIT is unsuited for educational decision-making purposes, including screening,…

In this interview, an Educational Testing Service (ETS) staff person outlines the three program components, as well as program development, pilot testing, and implementation plans for "The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers." Issues related to equity and computer-assisted testing are also examined. (IAH)