Retrospective pretesting is a method for inferring learning by using the students' recollections of their preinstruction knowledge in lieu of actual pretesting. The most significant problem encountered in such a procedure is establishing the validity of the inferred precourse level of information; attempts to deal with that issue are presented.…

There is evidence that pre-tests can have orienting and motivational and teaching functions - in addition to the sought-for testing function. There is also evidence that these additional functions can be either general or specific. The present paper contributes to the ongoing debate by discussing the issues involved in the context of a series of…

RESEARCH WAS UNDERTAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EFFECTS OF PRACTICE ON TEST TAKING AND THE LENGTH OF TIME BETWEEN INITIAL TESTING (PRACTICE) AND RETESTING (SEE ALSO VT 003 819). THE DESIGN INVOLVED TESTING A SAMPLE OF STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCY EMPLOYEES WITH THE GENERAL APTITUDE…

The development of a project to assess the effectiveness of schools in a large urban school district is described in this paper, with a focus on improving the validity of school effectiveness instruments. Purposes of the project were to develop a methodology for reporting effective school strategies and to generate a broader profile of schools'…

This paper describes the development, utility, and validity of the Situational Self-statement and Affective State Inventory (SSASI), a research inventory designed to assess cognitions and affects across a variety of five hypothetical situations. Each situation describes a realistic incident involving interpersonal conflict, principally criticism…

The problems stated at the outset were: to discover whether information provided by confidence testing would result in a more accurate assessment of student knowledge so more personal individualized instruction could be presented, and whether sufficient precise data could be attained to be of significant aid in curriculum planning. Analysis has…

The desirable characteristics of criterion referenced test items and sets of items are described. A two-stage item tryout and item selection procedure are also described. The paper presents the results of using the procedure as compared with traditional item selection procedures used in selecting items for norm referenced tests. It was found that…

In a review of instruments measuring gender-related constructs, a number of shortcomings were found in existing scales. A new scale to measure sex-role attitudes was developed and tested by first proposing the construct of sex-role egalitarianism and then initiating the process of construct validation by developing a reliable measure of the…

The rationale and description of tests of teaching power by which teachers have an equal chance to show their relative ability to effect pupils' achievement in reading skills are discussed. Illustrations of these performance tests and a means for administering them - "teaching faires" are also presented. Data in support of teaching performance…

Although actual or projected satisfaction with parenting is important in determining whether a couple will become parents and how large their family will be, only minimal research has assessed parental satisfaction. The Cleminshaw-Guidubaldi Parent Satisfaction Scale, a 50-item Likert-type instrument designed to measure components of satisfaction…

The study aimed at constructing, validating, and testing two instruments, one of which measured attitude change toward Civil Defense adult education, and one which measured level of knowledge about Civil Defense practices; and evaluating the effectiveness of the Personal and Family Survival (PFS) Course in terms of attitude change and knowledge…

AN INVESTIGATION WAS MADE TO DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT TWO METHODS OF ITEM ANALYSIS - NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION REFERENCED - YIELD THE SAME RELATIVE EVALUATION OF TEST ITEMS. ITEMS WHICH DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN STUDENTS SCORING HIGH AND LOW ON POST-TESTS WERE STUDIED TO SEE IF THEY ALSO DISCRIMINATED WELL BETWEEN PRETRAINING AND…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of pretesting infantry soldiers scheduled to take written Skill Qualification Tests (SQT) in order to determine their training needs prior to official testing. During the study, researchers developed and field-tested a pretest for the SQT that was based on the 11B1 Infantryman Soldier's Manual and the 1980 SQT…

Two types of sensitivity indices were developed in this paper, one internal to the total test and the second external. To evaluate the success of these statistics the three criteria suggested for a satisfactory index of item quality were considered. The Internal Sensitivity Index appears to meet these demands. Certainly it is easily computed. In…