Intended to help educators select diagnostic and criterion referenced reading tests for their specific purposes, this book contains reviews of nine individual and three group tests. The reviewed tests were selected for their "importance" from a list of 34 and were reviewed by experts according to their descriptions of content, test development,…

Arguments against competency testing surface continually, and classic counter-arguments reoccur. Nevertheless, minimum competency testing and other accountability efforts have much public support. Those claiming that the tests are not relevant or do not have predictive validity, also say they are coachable and biased. Answers are given to these…

The construction and evaluation of the Perception of Social Closeness Scale (PSCS) is described. The PSCS, designed to measure classroom social distance, is modeled after the Classroom Social Distance Scale and is constructed in a manner to be used with classroom teachers. Following a description of the scale's development, items were selected to…

The development of a new instrument, the Statements About Schools Inventory (SAS) is described. The SAS measures the extent to which high schools meet the needs of their students for a safe, stable environment (security scale), for interpersonal relationships (social scale), for success and achievement (esteem scale), and for personal growth (self…

Data are presented evaluating the validity and reliability of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ), a self-report questionnaire designed to elicit respondents' perceptions of themselves with respect to seven personality and behavioral dispositions: hostility and aggression, dependence, self-esteem, self-adequacy, emotional…

Brief guidelines for the selection of norm referenced tests are offered. Four considerations in selecting an appropriate test are: (1) appropriateness of test content; (2) appropriateness of the norm group; (3) test reliability; and (4) ease of administration. (MH)

The Alpha Omega Completed Sentence Form (AOCSF) was developed to identify and measure a person's adaptational approaches to information concerning their own death or the possible death of a significant other. In contrast to the Kubler-Ross stage theory, the adaptational approach recognizes a person's capacity to assimilate new information which…

RISK TAKING ON OBJECTIVE EXAMINATIONS (RTOOE) OCCURS WHENEVER AN EXAMINEE TAKES AN EXAMINATION WITH PENALTIES FOR INCORRECT RESPONSES, AND RESPONDS TO AN ITEM WITHOUT KNOWING THE CORRECT ANSWER WITH CERTAINTY. THIS PROJECT WAS CONCERNED WITH THREE ASPECTS OF RTOOE--(1) ITS MEASUREMENT, (2) ITS GENERALITY, AND (3) ITS EFFECT ON TEST SCORE. IN THE…

A TEST WAS CONSTRUCTED TO MEASURE SELECTED LIFE SCIENCE CONCEPTS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN GRADES ONE THROUGH SIX. THE CONTENT OF THE TEST IS BASED ON SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS--(1) STRUCTURE, (2) METABOLISM, (3) GROWTH, (4) REPRODUCTION, (5) RESPONSIVENESS, AND (6) ADAPTION. A LIST OF CONCEPTS RELATED TO THE SIX CHARACTERISTICS…

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable instrument for observing the behaviors of caregivers in infant day care centers. Identification of custodial and developmental tasks of infant caregivers was accomplished by a review of the relevant literature, narrative recordings of infant caregivers, and verification of the tasks by a panel of…

The purpose of this study was to validate the Prescriptive Instructional Program for Educational Readiness (PIPER) for utilization as a criterion referenced test (CRT) among learning disabled children. The program consisted of behavioral objectives and diagnostic and/or mastery tasks and activities for each objective in the area of gross motor…

A study dealt with the use of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) within a job component validity framework as the basis for estimating aptitude requirements of jobs represented by scores on commercially available tests as contrasted with scores on General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) tests. Procedures generally consisted of the use of job…

General information about the cloze technique and summaries of experiments with adults and children in which it was used are presented. Results indicated that the most valid and reliable cloze test for measuring passage difficulty is one in which (1) an every nth mechanical mutilation system is used, (2) not more than 20 words in every 100 are…

Two independent studies were conducted to investigate possible differences in General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) aptitude M resulting from the use of different test equipment (wooden vs. plastic apparatus.) As part of a ten-year longitudinal study of Vocational Development being conducted in the Department of Vocational Education at The…

The Service Outcome Measurement Form (SOM) was the result of Service Outcome Measurement Project, and was developed and tested with the cooperation of Rehabilitation Administrators and Counselors in the state agencies of 11 states. The Project was designed to develop a method of measuring the relative difficulty of cases and to measure client…